missile strike on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters

Overview

On 22 September 2023, headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet at Sevastopol was attacked by Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles launched by Su-24s of the Ukrainian Air Force. As a result, the headquarters building was partially destroyed. The strike was part of the war resulting from the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, and was referred to as Operation Crab Trap by Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR).

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

On 22 September 2023, Ukrainian Air Force Su-24s launched Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles against the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol, partially destroying the headquarters building. The strike, designated Operation Crab Trap by Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), demonstrated Ukraine's capacity to strike high-value command infrastructure deep within Russian-controlled Crimea using Western-supplied stand-off munitions. By targeting the operational nerve center of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, the attack directly threatened the command and coordination capacity of a fleet that had played a significant role in Russia's maritime operations since the 2022 invasion.

Tactics