Russian warship damaged in Ukrainian strike on Crimea – MoD

Ukrainian forces have damaged the Russian landing ship Novocherkassk at its home base in Feodosia with an overnight missile strike, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Tuesday morning.

The engagement also resulted in the downing by Russian anti-aircraft weaponry of two Ukrainian Su-24 jets near the city of Nikolaev by Russian anti-aircraft weaponry, the military said.

The attack on the Crimean port city was also confirmed by the region's governor, Sergey Aksyonov, who reported that one person had been killed and two others injured. Blast waves from explosions at the military facility also damaged windows in nearby buildings, but otherwise civilian infrastructure remained intact, the official stated. Local emergency services later told the media that five people had been reported injured and that 250 rescue workers were responding to the situation.

The regional railroad operator later said in a statement that windows had been shattered at the terminal station in Feodosia. Train schedules have been adjusted to allow for repairs, the statement added.

Ukrainian General Nikolay Oleshchuk, who commands the nation’s Air Force, claimed that the Novocherkassk “went the way” of the Moskva, the former flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet that sank after a reported Ukrainian attack last year. He thanked the military pilots involved in the operation, but didn’t confirm any losses on Kiev’s side.

Landing ships are primarily meant for transportation of large military cargoes and the deployment of land forces during amphibious operations. The Novocherkassk can carry, for example, 10 main battle tanks and 340 troops. The ship belongs to the Ropucha class, which was produced in Poland from the 1970s through the 1990s.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine identified the weaponry used in the night strike, but some military experts believe that they were the Storm Shadow air-to-surface cruise missiles, which the UK provided to Kiev earlier this year.

The same type of weapon was reportedly deployed during the September attack on a military dock in Sevastopol, in which the Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarine Rostov-on-Don and the Ropucha-class landing ship Minsk were hit.

On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the liberation of Maryinka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. For years, the town remained a major stronghold for the Ukrainian army. A Ukrainian military spokesman claimed in response that the fighting was ongoing. Kiev’s Tuesday update on the frontline situation didn’t mention the town at all, contrasting statements made in previous days.