Ukraine sinks Russian landing ship Novocherkassk in Black Sea
Commander of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Mykola Oleshchuk, announced on the night of Tuesday, December 26th, that a large landing ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Novocherkassk, had been sunk. Oleshchuk wrote on Telegram that this ship "followed the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the cruiser Moskva,'" and thanked the "pilots of the Air Force and all those involved" for their "exquisite work." A video from the ASTRA Telegram channel was attached to the post, allegedly showing a large explosion and fire in the port of Feodosia in annexed Crimea.
The press service of the the Ukrainian Air Forces added that the Novocherkassk, as it is rumored, was transporting Iranian Schahed drones.
Russia appointed head of annexed Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, shortly before Oleshchuk's statement, reported an "enemy attack in the area of Feodosia." "The port area is cordoned off. At the moment, the explosions have stopped, and the fire is contained. All city services are working on site. Residents of several houses will be relocated," Aksyonov noted.
Telegram channel MASH previously reported, citing local residents, about "loud explosions" and smoke in the area of the Feodosia port. "Preliminary air defense work is underway," the source also stated. MASH added that the traffic on the Crimea Bridge was temporarily halted.
Another Telegram channel, Military Observer, reported that "according to some reports, the strike was carried out by Storm Shadow/SCALP EG cruise missiles."
The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed that the ship had been hit. The Novocherkassk sustained damage as a result of the attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russia's Ministry of Defence stated. According to the ministry, the ship was attacked with guided missiles. The Russian side claimed that two Ukrainian Su-24 aircraft, which launched missiles at the Novocherkassk, were subsequently destroyed.
According to the information provided by Sergei Aksenov, the head of annexed Crimea, one person died and two others were injured in the attack.
On 4 November, Mykola Oleschuk stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had successfully launched missile strikes on the Zaliv shipyard in Kerch. He claimed that at the time, a Russian ship carrying Kalibr cruise missiles was present at the shipyard and had followed in the footsteps of the Moskva missile cruiser. The Russian Ministry of Defence reported at the time that out of the 15 cruise missiles launched at Zaliv, 13 were shot down, but offered no comment on the alleged damage to its own ship.