Is the Russian Navy losing credibility in the Black Sea? In any case, “it is only shrinking,” said Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk. While Moscow prided itself on having conquered the town of Marinka in the east of the country on land, kyiv announced that it had once again destroyed a vessel from the Russian fleet in Crimea. The Russian army has suffered setbacks in recent months in the battle of the Black Sea.
The Ukrainian air force announced that it had destroyed “the large landing ship Novocherkassk”, which was stationed in the port city of Feodosia, which is home to a major Russian naval base on the Crimean peninsula. The vessel was suspected, according to the Air Force communication, of transporting Iranian drones that Russia is using in the war against Ukraine. “People say he was carrying Shaheds,” the air force said.
Still according to her, the operation was carried out by “tactical aviation” with cruise missiles, in the middle of the night around 2:30 a.m. Mykola Olechchouk welcomed the operation, relaying a video on Telegram showing a large explosion.
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The Novocherkassk ship was indeed damaged during the night, announced Moscow, cited by the Russian press agency Interfax. During the attack, Russian anti-aircraft defenses reportedly shot down two Ukrainian Su-24 planes, Russian authorities also claimed.
The head of the “Republic of Crimea”, Sergei Aksionov, also confirmed that an attack had occurred in this locality. “An enemy attack was carried out in the Feodossia sector. The port sector is cordoned off,” the Russian official said on Telegram, assuring that “the detonation has ended” and that “the fire is contained.” Sergei Aksionov did not specify the nature of the damage but stressed that “the inhabitants of several houses” had to be “evacuated”.
“Judging by the size of the explosion, it was loaded with missiles. This is the third ship of this class hit in the Black Sea in 2023,” aeronautical consultant Xavier Tytelman commented on X. Ukraine frequently carries out strikes in Crimea, particularly targeting the Russian military. At the beginning of November, Ukraine announced that it had destroyed “one of the most modern ships of the Russian navy”, the Askold missile corvette.
In April 2022, the Ukrainian army sent the cruiser Moskva, the Russian flagship of the Black Sea fleet, to the bottom, with a displacement of more than 12,000 tons, much larger than the Novocherkassk which has around 2,800 tons.
