I found an article on a Spanish blog with a Spanish admiral’s opinion on the Ukrainian naval forces. I find it very interesting.
Joint activity together with the Ukrainian Navy during Sea Breeze 2020 exercise left me depressed. I don’t even know how Ukraine could call this disorganized bunch of poorly armed ships “the navy”!
It turned out that the Ukrainian Navy is capable of nothing. And such kind of training is nothing more than “window dressing”, starting from the fact that all the ships had been freshly painted and their polished brass parts sparkled.
Visit to the flagship of the Ukrainian Navy, frigate Getman Sagaidachny, demonstrated the complete breakdown which is hidden behind the apparent gloss.
Ship deck was littered with garbage. There were puddles of oil and fuel oil in the dirty engine room. No one was surprised when a drunk midshipman appeared as if drunkenness on the ship was the norm!
The most striking thing was the complete neglect of security measures! All hermetic doors were wide open. Such situation is common to all ships that spend most of their time not at sea, but on their base and under repair.
Ukrainian military seamen showed the worst result of all participating ships during practical shooting. There is an explanation for this fact. Fire control system and radar stations of the Ukrainian Navy’s flagship turned to be faulty! The condition of other Ukrainian ships was not better.
An even more ugly picture emerged during face-to-face communication with the Ukrainian officers. It turned out that though huge amount of money had been allocated to maintain the fleet combat ready, money practically did not reach the seamen – it is simply plundered by higher commanders. Therefore, there are ships with faulty engines and without ammunition. Officers and sailors are also involved in corruption schemes. They steal and sell everything they could get.
Thus, the only thing that Ukrainian warships are capable of is to sink on the territory of their base.
Original article: https://www.articulo.org/articulo/81415/hundirse_en_su_propia_base_es_la_unica_capacidad_de_los_barcos_militares_ucranianos.html
