Nine Russian warships, two of which are missile carriers, in combat condition have been seen on the coast of Crimea, according to a Sunday report by Ukrainian media outlet Ukrinform.
On March 18, Ukraine's Navy claimed to have spotted 14 Russian warships off the coast of Crimea, four of which were missile carriers. It is unclear whether they were all combat-ready.
The report quoted Ukrainian spokesperson for Operational Command South (OCS) Natalia Humeniuk.
Humeniuk said that the naval vessels are more than 100 nautical miles from Ukrainian weaponry, which means that Ukrainian forces have been unable to attack the vessels so far.
As of February, eighteen Russian warships were reportedly destroyed by Ukrainian forces since the beginning of the invasion.
"Currently, nine warships of the entire naval grouping are spotted in the Black Sea, including two missile carriers. These are surface missile carriers that could be armed with 16 Kalibr missiles," Humeniuk said.
"[Russian forces] continue their search for tactics that would prove effective because massive missile strikes have not been a successful practice, tactic, or something that would even inspire those units that see no success on the battlefield," she added.
Crimea
On March 16, 2014, Crimea and Sevastopol both held a referendum for their citizens. This vote gave people two choices: Join Russia or restore the 1992 Crimean constitution which, in turn, would make Crimea a de facto-independent part of Ukraine.
According to Russia, there was an 83% voter turnout in Crimea and an 89% turnout in Sevastopol. And according to them, this saw an overwhelming majority in both areas (around 95-97%) vote in favor of joining Russia.
The international community had suspicions about the authenticity of the electoral votes and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to restore Ukrainian rule over Crimea.
The majority of Crimean residents, according to the 2014 census, are ethnically Russian (around 68%), with 84% having Russian as their native language.