Russia has no warships deployed in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time in a decade, the latest example of how much Moscow is exerting itself after almost four and a half years of full-scale war in Ukraine. A narrow exception exists for Russian ships with their home bases listed as Sevastopol, in Crimea, or Novorossiysk, a Russian port city east of the peninsula. Russia's navy, unable to leave the Black Sea, has been menaced by Ukrainian drones despite Kyiv having no substantial navy. As of 2026, Ukraine has destroyed or damaged almost a third of the entire Black Sea fleet, according to Kyiv. Putin accused Ukraine of attacking a liquefied natural gas ship in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Libya, in March this year.