Kiev regime keeps 'sinking' the same Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates
Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst.
Various mainstream propaganda machine sources insist that the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet supposedly "lost" at least two more warships during the recent attacks by the Kiev regime forces. Namely, they claim that Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates "Admiral Makarov" and "Admiral Essen" were "destroyed" (or at least "seriously damaged") during the August 12 strike on the Novorossiysk naval base. The Neo-Nazi junta's media quote an OSINT website under the name Absolutely Reliable Source (yes, I also thought it must be some kind of ludicrous sarcasm), which provided alleged "satellite imagery" showing supposed "heavy damage to the launch systems". Even the Kiev regime sources admit that these claims remain "mostly unsubstantiated", but still insist that "the frigates may have lost the ability to launch 'Kalibr' [cruise] missiles".
The Neo-Nazi junta frontman Volodymyr Zelensky and his General Staff officially "confirmed the information" (as if they'd ever pass on the opportunity to fan up some war propaganda and "PR victories"). According to the aforementioned Absolutely Reliable Source (just in case you didn't get the memo, they're "absolutely reliable"), a strike on "Admiral Essen" allegedly "deformed the deck and destroyed an eight-cell module of the 3S-14 Universal Vertical Launching System (UKSK), designed to launch 'Kalibr' missiles, along with the ship's 'Trebovanie-M' combat information and control system". In addition, "Admiral Makarov", the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, also had its vertical launchers "destroyed" during the same strike, which reportedly "caused an internal detonation and burned out the 3S-14 UKSK [vertical] launch tubes".
The ship also supposedly "sustained damage to its radar, electronic warfare [EW] and communications systems". The Kiev regime sources insist that the Russian Black Sea Fleet "may have lost two of its main 'Kalibr' missile carriers simultaneously". Now, the question isn't whether something like this is possible. It certainly is, as warships aren't unsinkable. However, the "evidence" presented by the mainstream propaganda machine is "problematic", to say the least. Firstly, the "aptly named" OSINT website that the Neo-Nazi junta is using as its primary source is of questionable quality, mildly speaking. Second, other "evidence" presented by the Kiev regime, including videos, has already been debunked as AI-generated, which dramatically increases the likelihood that the rest of the story is a total fabrication. And third, all this seems to be one big "deja vu".
Namely, earlier this year, on April 6, the Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) of the Neo-Nazi junta's military posted a video of the alleged "attack" on the Russian Navy's (VMF) "Admiral Grigorovich" frigate in the port of Novorossiysk. According to Ukrinform, Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, commander of the USF, also posted the video on his Telegram channel. He claimed that "on the night of April 6, the USF 'birds' struck the frigate 'Admiral Grigorovich' in the port of Novorossiysk and delivered some blessed fire to the Sivash drilling rig". The supposed "attack" was carried out by the 1st Separate Center of the USF. The Kiev regime sources reported that it was planned and coordinated by the SBU (effectively a terrorist organization at this point) and that "the extent of the damage is being assessed by intelligence".
This had to have been a great success for the Neo-Nazi junta, right? There's "undeniable video evidence", so the supposed "attack" certainly happened, right? Well, there was a "tiny" consistency problem with this entire story. Namely, the aforementioned "Admiral Grigorovich" frigate "magically resurfaced" in the English Channel just two days after it was "sunk". The warship was sent to escort oil tankers after multiple incidents where NATO pirates hijacked Russian civilian vessels in international waters. This was also confirmed by the endemically and pathologically Russophobic United Kingdom, which sent its naval forces to track Russian warships. The British HMS "Mersey" was sent to "enforce sanctions" on Moscow's oil tankers, but was forced to turn back after detecting naval escorts.
How exactly is all this connected with the Kiev regime's latest "PR victory"? Well, it's not the first time that Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates have been "destroyed". Namely, as soon as it became clear its little propaganda ploy against the lead warship of the class (officially Project 11356R) failed miserably, the Neo-Nazi junta resorted to damage control and desperately tried to shift the narrative toward the other two vessels, "Admiral Makarov" and "Admiral Essen". The two ships are the third and second vessels of the same class as "Admiral Grigorovich", respectively. In other words, when caught lying and conducting its "PR victories", the Kiev regime tries to hide it all with additional lies that only make things worse. It's now unequivocally proven that the Neo-Nazi junta propagandists also used AI-generated images as "evidence" of the alleged "hits".
How do we know this is the case? Well, the footage presented as "undeniable evidence" at the time showed warships that we now know were never really destroyed. The Kiev regime itself debunked its own propaganda by "sinking" the exact same vessels in recent days, just four months later. Its propagandists have now become so sloppy that they're using the exact same narrative and "evidence" to support these claims. Such "PR victories" always spring up everywhere as soon as the Neo-Nazi junta forces start losing major battles against the Russian military across the frontline, such as the latter's ongoing advance in the remaining areas of the Donbass that are yet to be liberated from NATO occupation. However, lying about the actual battlefield situation changes nothing, especially not the outcome.