Ukraine says it has taken back control of four gas drilling platforms in the northern Black Sea, near the Crimean Peninsula.
A video captured special forces in Ukraine removing Russian military equipment. Ukraine claims that this happened last month.
Russia took control of the Boyko Towers in 2015, right after it unlawfully took over Crimea.
There has been a fight to gain control of these important waters since last year.
A video and statement from Ukraine’s military intelligence called Battle for the Sea show a rare look into this part of the conflict.
In the video, which the BBC cannot confirm is true, there are fast boats on the Black Sea carrying Ukrainian special forces teams.
At one time, the boats go near Snake Island, also called Zmiinyi Island. Russia took control of the island during its big attack last year, but it was taken back four months later.
Then, soldiers climb onto one of the raised areas and take away Russian supplies, as well as important radar equipment.
“In the drilling platforms, the Russians created storage areas with bullets and fuel for helicopters,” explains the video commentary.
“They also put radar devices on the towers to watch what was happening in the whole Black Sea. ”
The radar, called Neva-B, was being used to help Russia see better in the important area of water between Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula.
At one moment, the video seems to show Ukrainian soldiers trying very hard to protect themselves from a Russian Su-30 fighter jet that is flying in circles above them.
People are happy and excited because a missile that can be carried on a person’s shoulder was fired and made a plane go away.
We don’t have clear proof of more fighting, but a military intelligence spokesperson said that Russian soldiers on one of the platforms were killed.
According to the military, the mission was very intense. They had to look for a soldier named “special agent Konan” for 14 hours because he fell off the ship. Luckily, they found him thanks to a drone.
Ukraine’s version of what happened cannot be confirmed by anyone else, but on 27 August, the Ministry of Defence in Britain tweeted that there were small fights near the gas platforms.
‘Fight for power happening behind the scenes’
The Ministry of Defense said that a Russian fighter plane attacked a small Ukrainian military boat near a platform in the northwest of the sea last week.
It’s a hidden fight between two sides for control over the northern Black Sea, which both sides consider extremely important.
The military said that the platforms have important resources like oil and gas, and can be used as bases for troops, places for helicopters to land, and to set up missile systems that can reach far distances.
Recently, Russia has said multiple times that they stopped small boats with Ukrainian soldiers on them near the western side of the Crimean Peninsula.
Last year, Russia’s control over Snake Island and the Boyko platforms, which were named after Ukraine’s former minister of energy, was seen as a threat to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
Currently, Russia is facing a greater threat as Ukrainian drones and commandos are carrying out attacks on the northwest part of Crimea. They have caused damage to a radar base on the Tarkhankut Peninsula and even managed to plant a Ukrainian flag during an operation to celebrate Independence Day on 24 August.
Serhiy Kuzan from the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre in Kyiv said that the Boyko towers mission was a risky operation conducted from a far distance.
“We won against the Russians because we reached the towers first and took away their surveillance devices,” he explained, “before the Russians could send their planes to defend their equipment. ”
Kyiv is very clear about wanting to get back the Crimean Peninsula.
The video commentary says that Russia can no longer fully control the Black Sea. This means that Ukraine is now much closer to regaining control of Crimea.
For now, it may seem far away, but it is important to limit Russia’s ability to monitor the northern Black Sea in order to gradually weaken Moscow’s control.