Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Russian warbloggers are reacting with shock and alarm at the Ukrainian attack today on the Russian Baltic Fleet corvette Boykiy near St Petersburg. In particular, they question the apparent lack of effective air defences or anti-drone protection. ⬇️

2/ 'Rybar' comments: "The threat to the fleet is everywhere."

"Judging by the video, at least two hits were recorded. The corvette was in dry dock undergoing repairs, despite the ship being new. And Ukrainian forces intercepted it there."

3/ "They had already done something similar during attacks on Sevastopol several years earlier.

The hit on the Boykiy once again exposes the problem of countering UAVs.

4/ "Current measures aren't entirely effective: the response rate appears to remain high, but strikes continue to appear in various parts of the country. Moreover, this isn't the first time Baltic Fleet ships have been hit.

5/ "Why the corvette was in such an unprotected position is a question with an asterisk. The fleet is extremely vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks, and there are no measures that could be said to "definitely help."

6/ "The chain-link fences stretched across the Navy's surface combat units, pardon the pun, don't really do the trick.

Regarding [Ukrainian] communications, it's highly likely that the Starlink satellite terminal was used.

7/ "The system is already well-established: one of the UAV relay stations extends through the Baltic Sea into the international waters of the Gulf of Finland and transmits a signal to the attack UAVs.

8/ "The only way to combat this is by saturating our air defences. Given the SAM shortage, we need more maneuverable groups and drone interceptor crews that will function not only on paper (the Leningrad Region is experiencing problems with this), but in practice.

9/ "And regarding the misconception that the enemy will ever run out of drones or missiles: production is growing; new capacity was added in March alone, which resulted in an increase in attacks in April and May, so there will only be more raids."

10/ Perhaps inevitably, the channel suggests that the attack was the product of a Western conspiracy:

11/ "Reports on the strike against the corvette ‘Boykiy’ in Western and Ukrainian media are almost unanimously accompanied by one curious footnote: ‘in June 2025, the ship was escorting tankers from Russia’s “shadow fleet” as they passed through the English Channel’.

12/ "And this is no coincidence.

In fact, the West is focusing attention on the attack on one of the Baltic Fleet’s combat units, which was ensuring the safe passage of Russian cargo ships.

13/ "Such measures were taken by the command due to the increasing frequency of attacks on tankers transporting oil from the Russian Federation.

The main problem with this approach is that the Russian Navy’s capabilities are severely limited.

14/ "Its combat fleet is not particularly large, and building even a corvette, as is the established tradition, takes years, not to mention the amount of investment required.

15/ "Every such strike (even one that seems insignificant at first glance) forces the ship into dry dock for repairs. And this, again, given the state of Russian shipbuilding, means time and money, whilst the corvette or frigate itself is out of action for a while.

16/ "And so the collective West, through the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, kills two birds with one stone: it weakens the ability to escort tankers through the English Channel, whilst also expanding the options for exerting pressure on Russia amidst the deterioration…

17/ …of the Russian Navy.

Therefore, when the French authorities inform the Russian Embassy that the captain (a Russian citizen) of the tanker Tagor, which was seized yesterday, has been taken into custody, they are doing so for a reason.

18/ "On the one hand, this sets a precedent for future arrests; on the other, it is a test of the reaction and the limits of what is permissible." /end

Sources:
🔹 t.me/rybar/80791
🔹 t.me/rybar/80799