Ukraine destroys Russian warship in Crimea, in another blow to Moscow’s Black Sea fleet

The raid has dealt another blow to Moscow’s Black Sea fleet and raised the tally of expensive weapons systems lost and damaged during the war.

Ukraine attacks Russian warship in Crimea port.

Ukrainian forces struck a large Russian warship during an overnight air raid on a base in occupied Crimea, dealing another blow to Moscow’s Black Sea fleet and raising the tally of expensive weapons systems lost and damaged during the war.

Ukrainian officials said the ship had been destroyed and posted videos online that showed a massive explosion. Russian state media reported that the Novocherkassk, an amphibious landing ship, was damaged by guided missiles, and said one person was killed and four injured.

Russian state news agency TASS said two Ukrainian Su-25 warplanes were shot down during the raid, something the Ukrainian air force denied.

The Ukrainian attack in the port of Feodosiya, destroyed a Russian warship. Picture: AFP.

The attack on the Novocherkassk is the latest in a recent string of strikes against high-profile Russian targets. Ukraine also says it shot down five Russian warplanes over the past week, including four Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers. Moscow has used those jets to launch cruise missiles and guided bombs against Ukrainian cities.

The strikes demonstrate Kyiv’s ability to hit targets in Russian-occupied Crimea and to land blows against some of Moscow’s most advanced weapons systems, as the broader war on the ground edges toward stalemate.

A summer counteroffensive by Ukraine failed to achieve a breakthrough against entrenched Russian forces, feeding doubts in the West about whether Kyiv can oust the Russians from the roughly 20 per cent of the country that Moscow currently occupies.

Aid packages for Ukraine are currently stalled in Washington and Europe, leaving the country’s troops with a shortage of artillery shells. And Kyiv, in an effort to boost military manpower, has been picking up military-aged men off the street and bringing them to recruiting centres.

But Ukraine has conducted a series of successful attacks in Crimea and the Black Sea. Last year, Kyiv’s forces sank the Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, and damaged the bridge that connects Crimea to Russia. This year, they struck the head fleet’s Crimea headquarters with cruise missiles.

“The fleet in Russia is getting smaller and smaller,” Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukraine’s Air Force, wrote Tuesday morning on Telegram. “Thanks to the pilots, Air Force and everyone involved.” Oleshchuk also posted a video of the attack, which appeared to be filmed by people in Crimea and shows an enormous blast, suggesting explosives on board the ship were detonated in the attack.

“We see how powerful the explosion was, what the detonation was. It is extremely difficult for a ship to survive after this,” Yuriy Ignat, a spokesman for Ukraine’s air force, said in an interview with a Ukrainian television station.

He said Ukrainian tactics and “good Western weapons” allowed the Ukrainians to penetrate Russian air defences. Earlier this year, Britain gave Kyiv cruise missiles that are launched from jets.

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said on Telegram that the attack showed that Russia needed to improve its air defences.

“It is clear that Crimea’s air defence needs to be strengthened. And it is clear that it is necessary to deprive the opportunity to attack Russia,” he wrote.

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