Ukraine strikes Russian naval landing warship, Moscow admits damage.
Ukraine struck a large Russian landing warship in Crimea with cruise missiles in an overnight attack that killed at least one person and could hinder any Russian attempt to seize more Ukrainian territory along the Black Sea coast.
The Russian defence ministry, cited by the Interfax news agency, said Ukraine had used air-launched missiles to attack the Crimean port of Feodosia and that the Novocherkassk large landing ship had been damaged.
The Russian occupied port of Feodosia, Crimea, suffered a series of explosions this morning, including a single massive detonation/cookoff. pic.twitter.com/K5ZpEAXmsS
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) December 26, 2023
Ukrainian Air Force Spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said he thought it would be hard for the Novocherkassk – which can carry tanks and armoured vehicles and be used to land troops ashore – to re-enter service.
“We can see how powerful the explosion was, what the detonation was like. After that, it’s very hard for a ship to survive, because this was not a rocket, this is the detonation of munitions,” he told Radio Free Europe.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine later said that the Russian Naval Ship sank.
Ukrainian warriors modified the russian Novocherkassk large landing ship—now it's a submarine. pic.twitter.com/CMoQDAuzdR
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 26, 2023
Ukraine had used cruise missiles in the attack, without specifying what kind, Ihnat said. Both Britain and France have supplied Kyiv with such missiles.
