Invaders try to replace damaged air defense systems in Crimea rapidly — Pletenchuk

Russian troops are trying to quickly replace air defense systems in the temporarily occupied Crimea, which were destroyed by the Defense Forces.

According to Ukrinform, this was reported on television by Captain 3rd Rank Dmytro Pletenchuk, the Ukrainian Navy's spokesman.

"Of course, they are trying to do this as quickly as possible, because they understand perfectly well that the destruction of surveillance systems means the further destruction of the objects they cover. We... have already seen this happen many times: After such information, we hear another piece of news that security facilities have already been hit. In any case, we will not speculate yet. One way or another, reducing the enemy's ability to detect our means of attack is always a positive thing," Pletenchuk emphasized.

Reporting on the situation in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, the spokesman noted that due to difficult weather conditions, the activity of enemy aircraft and ships in the area has been significantly reduced.

“The sea is still the sea, and the season is not favorable, plus the weather conditions, so now there is virtually no aviation in the airspace above the water area... And this situation has remained unchanged for several days. The same situation applies to ships; there have been no sorties or operations at sea,” the spokesman added.

Responding to a question about whether there has been any influx of Kalibr missiles to equip enemy ships, Pletenchuk noted: “We cannot disclose our intelligence. I can only say that we are always expecting the use of naval platforms against Ukraine. Therefore, we always consider such a danger to be present.”

Meanwhile, he added that storms of three to four points on the Beaufort scale do not allow the use of sea carriers for strikes against Ukraine.

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“Usually, maritime carriers are not used. Not because ships cannot leave, they can leave, but because, in such sea conditions, normally, no one risks launching them,” the spokesman explained.

As reported by Ukrinform, Ukrainian Defense Forces units have struck enemy air defense facilities in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian Crimea, namely the Nebo-U radar station (near Yevpatoria) and the Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and gun system (near Khutorok).

Ukrinform's photos can be purchased here.