Ukraine’s navy chief has eye on liberating Crimea
His fleet started the war as massive underdogs, but with clever strategy, western help and the bravery of his sailors, Oleksiy Neizhpapa is proving a formidable opponent
Carving through the waves, the sleek silhouette of a Ukrainian gunboat prowls Odesa’s harbour, a daylight display of defiance toward the Russian Black Sea fleet that once menaced these shores, visible to the city’s citizens with the naked eye.
Now President Putin’s ships lurk some 120 miles away, banished since the sinking of their flagship Moskva by fear of the Ukrainian navy’s long-range missiles and harried by its explosive marine drones.
Reinforced by western weapons and ships that have swelled his force’s firepower to three times what it was before the war, the commander of Ukraine’s navy is so confident in his growing fleet that he has set his sights on returning his native Crimea to Ukraine.
“Before February 24 [the date of Russia’s invasion
