Ukrainian Navy SEALs are waging a secret war against the Russian military, inflicting stealthy but devastating blows on them in the Black Sea. According to The Times, trained by British and US special forces, the Ukrainian fighters are carrying out strategically important missions, reconnaissance and attacking enemy positions deep in the rear.
One dark night, four Ukrainian divers set out on a mission. Submerged silently in the waves, they headed for the Russian-controlled coast. Using special equipment—rebreathers that leave no trace on the water—and using only a compass, watch, and arithmetic, they quietly approached the shoreline to complete their task.
This team belongs to the 73rd Special Operations Center of the Ukrainian Navy, which conducts dangerous operations against Russian forces at sea. Their work involves covert missions that include reconnaissance, mining, landing on the coast and destroying enemy equipment. As the commander of one of the units, known by the pseudonym “Alex”, said, their actions are always carefully planned, foreseeing all possible scenarios.
“The element of surprise is the key to success,” Alex notes. The Russians don’t expect such deep attacks in their rear, so caught off guard, they often don’t realize they’ve been attacked by Ukrainian special forces.
For example, during one mission when the SEALs were supposed to attack Russian coastal defenses, two divers were unable to arrive due to technical problems. However, another pair continued the mission. They successfully planted explosives on the road along which the Russians were transporting troops. When the enemy armored vehicles fell into the trap, the explosion destroyed them along with their crew. The Russians were stunned, thinking that they had stepped on their own mines.
“We listened to their radio intercepts—they were blaming each other for not warning about the mines. It was just amazing,” says “Alex.”
Ukraine is gradually establishing control in the Black Sea, particularly after the liberation of Zmiiniy Island in June 2022 and the seizure of oil platforms in September of the same year. The fight is now for control of the Kinburn and Tendra Spits, strategic for unblocking the port of Mykolaiv.
Units of the 73rd Center play an important role in this war, attacking the enemy from underwater and from the air. Using drones and missiles, Ukraine has already destroyed 26 ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, and divers continue to deliver pinpoint strikes on enemy positions.
Commander “Judy,” one of the few women in the special forces who has completed a NATO course, also speaks of the heavy losses among her own. “We are like one family, so the losses are felt especially painfully,” she notes.
