Ukrainian Aircrafts Hit another Warship of Russian Occupiers in Black Sea

At around 3 a.m. on December 26, tactical aviation of the Ukrainian Air Force blew up a large amphibious assault ship of the Russian aggressor country Novocherkassk in the Black Sea, near Feodosia in Russian-occupied Crimea. This was reported by The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, citing representatives of the Ukrainian and Russian Armed Forces and Russian media.

Ukrainian officials said the ship was destroyed. Russian state media reported that the Novocherkassk landing ship was damaged by guided missiles and that one person was killed and four were wounded. The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed that two Ukrainian Su-25 warplanes were shot down during the raid, but the Ukrainian Air Force denied this.

A number of Russian media outlets also reported that at least 19 Russian sailors were wounded in the attack, and 33 were reported missing. In total, there were 77 sailors on the ship. The Novocherkassk can carry 10 tanks and 225 sailors.

It was also reported that the ship was allegedly carrying Iranian ammunition.

"We saw how powerful the explosion and detonation were. It's extremely difficult for a ship to survive something like that," said Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat.

According to Ignat, the ship was hit by cruise missiles. "We have Storm Shadow and Scalp in service," he reminded.

"The Russian fleet has become smaller," said Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk, calling on Russians to leave Crimea "before it's too late."

The media outlets note that the attack on Novocherkassk is the latest in a recent string of strikes on important Russian military facilities. Ukraine also claims to have shot down five Russian military aircraft over the past week, including four Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers. Moscow used these aircraft to launch cruise missiles and guided bombs at Ukrainian cities.

As noted in the WSJ article, these strikes demonstrate Kyiv's ability to hit targets in Russian-occupied Crimea and to strike at some of Moscow's most advanced weapons systems.

For reference: The Novocherkassk is a ship that was built for the USSR by socialist Poland from 1975 to 1991 with the possibility of conducting operations in the ocean in mind. A similar Ukrainian ship, the Konstantin Olshansky, was seized by Russian troops in Crimea in 2014. The first attempt to attack the Novocherkassk was on 24 March 2022 in the port of occupied Berdiansk.