A year later Russia confirms the loss of warship in a Ukrainian missile strike
A commemorative plaque was opened to the sailors of large landing ships Saratov, Novocherkassk and Caesar Kunikov, who died in March last year during a missile strike of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. At the event, the commander of the Crimean naval base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Rear Admiral Felix Menkov, confirmed the loss of the Saratov, the newspaper Kommersant reports.
"A year ago, during the fighting, we lost a large landing ship Saratov, lost the personnel of the landing ships Saratov, Novocherkassk and Caesar Kunikov. Today is the first tragic anniversary of this event," he said.
The plaque bears the names of 12 sailors. Prior to this, Russia did not report the loss of the ship. The Russian news agency TASS reported said that on March 24, 2022, the Saratov was damaged as a result of a strike by a Ukrainian Tochka-U missile on the port of Berdyansk and "was flooded at the berth by the crew to prevent the detonation of ammunition."
On March 24 last year, the Ukrainian military published footage of an explosion in the port of occupied Berdyansk and reported that the Saratov was sent to the bottom of the sea. A strong fire began in the port of Berdyansk after the Ukrainian missile strikes.
Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny published a video showing the destruction of the Russian ship Saratov.
Залужний показав, як ЗСУ знищили російський корабель “Саратов” у Бердянську рік тому pic.twitter.com/CQbyUtknSL
— Українська правда ✌️ (@ukrpravda_news) March 24, 2023
In April 2022, Ukraine sank the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the missile cruiser Moskva. In addition, in the spring and summer, strikes were reported on the Russian ships Novocherkassk, Caesar Kunikov, Vasily Bekh and Vsevolod Bobrov, stationed in the Black Sea.