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A Russian naval captain leaked the location of Vladimir Putin’s newest £88 million warship, which allowed it to be destroyed by Ukrainian forces.
Video footage showed three missiles striking the Askold- the most modern warship in the Kremlin’s Black Sea Fleet – last weekend, damaging it beyond repair.
Ukrainian Telegram channels have since claimed that a Russian captain sold Kyiv the ship’s coordinates, which was stationed in a shipyard in Kerch, in the east of annexed Crimea.
The captain was named as Alexander Ermolenko, 39, commander of the Buyan-M class guided missile corvette Ingushetia 630.
Russian naval captain Alexander Ermolenko (right), 39, is believed to have leaked the location of the ultra-modern Askold warship in exchange for $1,500 (Picture: East2west)
Born in Sevastopol, Crimea, Ermolenko is considered a ‘war criminal’ by Ukraine, and has used his vessel to launch powerful Kalibr missiles at the besieged country since the start of Russia’s invasion.
He is believed to have sold the ship’s location for around $1,500 [£1,220], having haggled the price up from $1,000 [£815].
Neither he nor the Russian authorities have responded to the allegations, nor commented on claims he surrendered the coordinates to the shipyard via social media.
Reports shared on popular Telegram channels Russian Soldiers and Crimean Wind also failed to explain how the Black Sea Fleet captain came to be communicating with Ukrainian agents.
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In screenshots of the exchange shared on social media, the captain can be seen negotiating his payment in US dollars.
‘It’s not enough.,’ he says. ‘If I have to risk for 1000, it’s not enough. Give 500 more and I’ll give you the information.’
The text message then says: ‘Either we do it like this or we don’t do it.’
The ship was blown up by Ukraine earlier this week (Picture: East2west)
Supposedly referring to the 197ft-long Askold, he tells his Ukrainian handler: ‘It’s here – when do you plan to “work” on it…?
’Don’t wait too long, they might move it to another place.
‘I can only guarantee where it is right now.’
The captain’s wife Viktoria, 39, is from Kharkiv region in Ukraine, and the couple have two children.
The Askold will be unable to go ‘on combat duty in the near future,’ said Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson of Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command, this week.
’The blow was powerful.’
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