Recently, the first "island"-class stealth frigate built by Turkey for Ukraine, "Chief Ivan Mazepa", was launched on Istanbul . Ukrainian first lady Yelena Zelenskaya visited Turkey on the same day and attended the launch ceremony. The class of frigate plans to build two ships. Ukrainian Defense Minister Leznikov said that in the future, the "Chief Ivan Mazepa" will be deployed in Sevastopol of Crimea . With the launch of the new frigate, Ukrainian President Zelensky also said in his video speech that he would build a brand new fleet in the future and rebuild Ukrainian Navy .
("Chief Ivan Mazepa" after launching)
1991 collapsed , Ukraine divided 18.3% of the ships from the original Black Sea Fleet , and on this basis, the later Ukrainian Navy was established. Although Ukraine only divided less than 20% of the Black Sea Fleet ships, Ukraine inherited the largest and only Black Sea Shipyard during the Soviet era, as well as the completed aircraft carrier "Kuznetsov", more than half of the "Varyag" aircraft carrier and the "Ulyanovsk" nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that just started to be built.
(Ukrainian Navy flagship "Getman Sagedakine" frigate)
However, in the next 30 years, the Ukrainian navy became increasingly weak. Ukraine, which originally built the cruiser and aircraft carriers, fell to the point where frigates and patrol gunboats could only be used to charge the number. Before the Crimean Crisis in 2014, the Ukrainian Navy had only about 40 combat ships, of which the largest tonnage was the 3,500-ton "Commander Sagaidachini" class frigate, but its weapons were only equipped with 1 100mm naval gun, , anti-submarine deep bombs and helicopters, and did not have the ability to launch missiles , and its combat capability was at best a patrol boat. The largest number of Ukrainian naval ships is the 58155 armored boat. The full load displacement of this boat is only 50 tons, and its weapons are only 1 30mm cannon , 1 14.5mm machine gun and 7.62mm machine gun.
(the main force of the Ukrainian Navy - the 58155 armored boat)
After the Crimean crisis, the already weak Ukrainian Navy was "taken over" by Russia again. The only Ukrainian Navy can launch the P-15M "termite" anti-ship missile, which can launch the anti-ship missile, was trapped in the Crimean Peninsula . The Ukrainian Uranus anti-ship missile originally planned to be installed has not passed the acceptance, so Ukraine later dismantled the launch device of the "Priluki" that has no bombs available.
If the Crimean crisis makes the already weak Ukrainian navy worse, then the Russian-Ukrainian war is undoubtedly a catastrophe for the Ukrainian navy. At the beginning of the war, Ukraine sank its flagship "Getman Sagaidakine" frigate at the port. Most of the 58155 armored boats were also destroyed or seized by the Russian army at the beginning of the war. So much so that on the first day of the war, Russia claimed to "completely eliminate Ukrainian maritime forces."
(The "Getman Sagedakine" sinking in the port)
This shows that Ukraine is indeed imminent to rebuild its navy, but as the saying goes, "ten years of army, a hundred years of navy", the construction of the navy often takes a long time, and Ukraine will face many difficulties. As we mentioned earlier, Ukraine inherited the largest Black Sea shipyard and three aircraft carriers in the Soviet era. However, due to economic problems and the comprehensive westernization of ideology , Ukraine sold and dismantled the remaining two aircraft carriers, and the Black Sea Shipyard was gradually dismantled into four independent branches: a fishing shipyard, a final assembly plant, a forging factory, and a equipment manufacturing plant, and finally declared bankruptcy on July 3, 2018. If the Black Sea Shipyard can maintain a certain scale after 1991, Ukraine may be able to build small and medium-sized ships such as frigates to be self-sufficient, but now Ukraine has lost the foundation for shipbuilding, and the latest "island"-class frigates were also built in cooperation with Türkiye in 2020.
(The Black Sea Shipyard gradually abandoned and eventually went bankrupt after the collapse of the Soviet Union)
After the Crimean crisis, Russia controlled the Crimean Peninsula and built the Crimean Bridge , completely controlling Azov Sea and the unfrozen port of Sevastopol. Sevastopol is an important military port in the Crimea region. The loss of Sevastopol means that Ukraine has lost its "base" of its navy.
(Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol Port)
Ukraine's reconstruction navy also faces the dilemma of having boats but not ports, and the Russian Navy blockade in the Sea of Azov. Although Zelensky has set a grand goal of rebuilding the navy, the Ukrainian Navy at this time has to face a "hell difficulty start" that is many times more difficult than in 1991, and there is still a lot of roads to go and hardships in the future.
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