While the whole world is fighting COVID-19, Russia continues its hybrid military operations in the Black Sea and violates the borders of Ukraine.

On March 26^th, State Border Guard Service (SBGS) of Ukraine announced through its official website that “Ukraina” jackup rigs, renamed by the occupation authorities of Crimea to “Krym-1” and “Tavrida”, were observed in the area of Odesa oil field. Evidence of continued industrial operations can be seen on both platforms, and the platforms are flying the Russian flags. Also, the Project 12411 Large Missile Boat “Ivanovets” of Russian Black Sea Fleet (hull number 954) was patrolling near the platforms.

“The Coast Guard continues to gather and record the information about illegal commercial operations by Russia in the exclusive (maritime) economic zone of Ukraine under the protection of ships and boats of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The materials gathered by the Coast Guard of SBGS of Ukraine since 2014 already serve as an evidence for the arbitration proceedings in The Hague, which recognized that Russia illegally expropriated the property of Ukraine national oil and gas company Naftogaz and its subsidiaries,” states the website of the SBGS of Ukraine.

What else we know about the seized Ukrainian oil platforms

InformNapalm international volunteer community published several original articles about Russian military units and individual servicemen that took part in the seizure of Ukrainian drilling platforms in the Black Sea:

• Drilling Rigs of ‘Chernomornaftogaz’ Were Captured By The Russian 104th Regiment’s Paratroopers
• Corporate raids and terrorism of Russian Federation. “Boyko’s Rigs” as an indicator of maritime military challenges
• Where Did Russia Move Seized Ukrainian “Boyko’s Drilling Rigs” Valued at $800 Millions?
• ‘Boyko Drilling Rigs’ Were Found Thanks to Tugboat’s Tracks And Photos
• 2,000 Russian Special Forces in Crimea exercise to seize Ukrainian property (video)
• Volunteers gathered evidence of 32 Russian military units taking part in the invasion of Crimea
• For the first time open access to the book “Crimea Behind the Veil. Occupation Zone’s Guide”

Aggressor’s Losses

On March 25^th, the news broke that a Sukhoi Su-27 Russian fighter aircraft crashed 50 km from the Russia-occupied city of Feodosia (Crimea) in the Black Sea.

We also note that on December 11^th, 2019, a Russian Mi-28N ‘Night Hunter’ attack helicopter crashed in Krasnodar Krai. Its crew previously participated in the aggression against Ukraine.

For further reading: “Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bombers practiced missile strikes against Ukraine“, – commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Admiral Ihor Voronchenko.

Translated by Andrii Gryganskyi, edited by Max Alginin. Distribution and reprint with reference to the source is welcome! (Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0) InformNapalm social media pages: Facebook / Тwitter / Telegram.