Ukraine sunk half of the Russian Black sea fleet, the other half is hiding in safe ports and still get hit occasionally. Remember when there were talks about grain corridors? There are no more such talks because Ukraine actually managed to deny Russia the control of the Black sea and the Bosphorus straits are held by the Turks anyway.
It's just a different world now. Large powerful ships aren't that useful anymore, USA and Israel destroyed some of the largest and the most advanced Iranian ships in the first day of the war they started and yet can't sail their own ships in the region either.
One of my peers sent me a discussion from the Council on Foreign Relations and it was a difficult listen. Within the first 5 minutes of the hour-long vid, one of the "experts" was opining that Iran had no ability to close the Strait because "all of their ships are destroyed". These DC swamp creatures are CLUELESS. As you said, I dunno how any national security professional can watch Ukraine bully the Russian Black Sea Fleet with Starlink-equipped kamikaze USVs and not understand the implications for other theatres of war. Especially involving an adversary that has rehearsed and even pioneered asymmetric capabilities for decades.
Who do you follow for news on the Ukraine-Russian war? I use to follow combat footage to see what was going on, but I had to stop after seeing too many minefield and drones bombing humans videos.
This is considered the most "pro-Russian" sub-Reddit, so it balances the Anglosphere deluge of pro-Ukrainian material pretty well. The most important poster is u/HeyHeyHayden, who's content is so important another user built a site to archive it: https://old.reddit.com/r/UkraineRussiaReport/comments/1pfjpx...
Hayden mostly compiles battlefield progress from Suriyak Maps (reputable Russian mapper) and AMK_Mapping (reputable pro-Ukrainian mapper). I think you can find both of them on Twitter.
On Youtube, I recommend WillyOAM (Australian infantryman turned journalist), MarkTakacs (Hungarian infantry officer who makes tactical analysis vids), Daniel Davis Deep Dive (retired US Army LtColonel, Desert Storm vet), and HistoryLegends (meme-heavy but generally well-researched battlefield progress vids).
It's just a different world now. Large powerful ships aren't that useful anymore, USA and Israel destroyed some of the largest and the most advanced Iranian ships in the first day of the war they started and yet can't sail their own ships in the region either.