“Putin’s Black Sea fleet is worthless”
For Sea CONTROL, an American Standard, yes they are.
But, the Russian Fleet has never had the mission of controlling the sea, its mission is to interdict our control of the sea routes. The ships of the Navy have always been a “Fire and Forget” weapon.
They don’t have to sink a carrier to win a fight, they just have to put one out of commission to seriously damage our offensive capability.
They don’t have to control the Eastern Med, they just have to sink a tanker in the Suez Canal to close it off.
China now finds itself in exactly the opposite dilemma now. To support its industry, it now has to be able to CONTROL its sea routes.