Hardly an example of collapse. The Royal Navy tried to slip these ships through on a technicality. They, as the article notes, didn’t expect to succeed, but they took a shot.
For all Erdogan’s sins, he has evenhandedly enforced the Montreaux Convention. But this evenhandedness inherently impacts Russia more. No combatant can move warships through the Bosphorus or the Dardanelles Straits. Ukraine does not need to, as they are able to keep a merchant shipping corridor from Odessa to Moldovan territorial waters open through their existing forces.
However Russia, which has taken significant warship losses, cannot replace lost larger ships nor effectively use shipyards in the Crimea. The Black Sea Fleet is isolated and can only recieve smaller ships through a tortuous river/canal path from the Baltic ports.
Shh don’t tell them any reality or common sense they hate that.
If Turkey weren’t in NATO, the British ships still couldn’t come through, but why confuse some people with logic.
“However Russia, which has taken significant warship losses, cannot replace lost larger ships nor effectively use shipyards in the Crimea. The Black Sea Fleet is isolated and can only recieve smaller ships through a tortuous river/canal path from the Baltic ports.”
Ruzzia started this war assuming they could bully and intimidate everyone into accepting it and instead they’re facing serious consequences. I have zero sympathy for them. If anything the eventual eradication of Ruzzia’s Black Sea flotilla will hasten peace. I hope this happens soon.