Kiev reports destruction of Russian warship - Moscow speaks of "damage"
The Ukrainian air force stated on the online service Telegram that the "Novocherkassk" had been attacked and destroyed "in the Feodosiya region". The ship had been carrying Shahed drones, which Russia uses to attack Ukrainian cities.
Feodosiya is home to an important Russian naval base. Videos on online services showed a fire on the horizon over a port area, followed by a loud explosion and an even larger cloud of flames and smoke.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense published a photo showing flames and smoke over a port at night. The air force had done an "excellent job", the ministry wrote on the online service X, formerly Twitter. " Crimea belongs to Ukraine." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi thanked the country's air force for the attack and for increasing the size of the "Russian underwater fleet". He went on to say that "the occupiers will not have a single peaceful place in Ukraine".
In Moscow, meanwhile, the Kremlin announced that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had given President Putin a "very detailed report" "about the damage to our landing ship". The governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, who was appointed by Moscow, also confirmed an "enemy attack" in the region. One person was killed and two others were injured, he wrote in the online service Telegram. Six buildings were damaged in the attack and the residents were evacuated. The transport infrastructure was functioning "normally", explained Aksyonov. In a previous announcement, the governor had stated that the port area had been "cordoned off".
Ukraine repeatedly attacks military targets in Crimea. In April 2022, it sank the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the "Moskva", thereby humiliating Russia.
In September of that year, Ukraine attacked the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. Moscow then moved warships to ports further east.
British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps interpreted "this latest destruction of Putin's navy" as a sign that "those who believe in a stalemate in Ukraine are wrong". Russian supremacy in the Black Sea is now "in doubt", he wrote on X.
Among other things, the "Novocherkassk" was deployed during Russia's military intervention in Syria.
Ukraine's air force also reported that the country had once again been attacked by Shahed drones at night, particularly in the Kherson and Odessa regions. Thirteen of the 19 Russian drones were intercepted, it said. There were initially no reports of casualties or destruction.
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Source: www.stern.de
