On Dec 26, Ukrainian forces struck the Novocherkassk in the port of Feodosia in Russian-occupied Crimea. The cruise-missile attack obliterated the Russian warship, sending a fireball into the night sky. It was just the latest blow against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, whose flagship, the Moskva, was sunk in April 2022.

Twenty per cent of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is estimated to have been destroyed in the past four months of 2023. Yet, 7,000km away in the Russian Far East, the Russian Pacific Fleet goes from strength to strength. This was demonstrated on Dec 11 when President Vladimir Putin oversaw the inauguration of two new nuclear-powered submarines, which are due for deployment in the Pacific.