Ukraine damages another key Russian warship in fresh blow to Putin

Footage filmed by shocked residents shows the explosion and inferno that followed a suspected Storm Shadow missile strike (Pictures: East2West News)

Ukraine claims to have destroyed yet another major Russian navy ship in Crimea – after Vladimir Putin was forced to withdraw the bulk of his vaunted Black Sea Fleet due to similar attacks.

The air force struck the Novocherkassk landing ship during a raid on the port town of Feodosia early on Tuesday.

Its commander, Lt Gen Mykola Oleshchuk, wrote on Telegram: ‘And the fleet in Russia is getting smaller and smaller! Thanks to the Air Force pilots and everyone involved for the filigree work!’

Footage filmed by shocked residents shows the explosion and inferno that followed the strike – which is believed to have involved a UK-supplied Storm Shadow missile.

A powerful explosion shook the port of Feodosia in Crimea on Boxing Day (Picture: social media/e2w)

Russian landing ship Novocherkassk reportedly burning out in the port of Feodosia in annexed Crimea (Picture: Crimean Wind/east2west news)

Other Ukrainian Telegram channels were abuzz with unconfirmed reports of ‘dozens dead and wounded on the Novocherkassk landing ship’ with ‘ambulances rushing back and forth’.

In a rare move, Russia’s defence ministry conceded the ship was damaged and one person killed in a Ukrainian strike.

It said in a statement: ‘Tonight, while repelling an attack by the Ukrainian armed forces with the use of aircraft guided missiles at the Feodosia base, the large landing ship Novocherkassk was damaged.

‘During an anti-aircraft battle, two Su-24 tactical aircraft of the enemy were destroyed by air defence systems, in the area of  the village of Zhovten, launching aircraft guided missiles.’

The attack was at 2:50am local time (Picture: social media/e2w)

Earlier on Tuesday, Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of Crimea, said only that the Ukrainian attack resulted in a fire in the town’s port area that was promptly contained.

‘All relevant emergency services are on site,’ he said on the app. ‘Residents of several houses will be evacuated. I keep the situation under personal control.

‘I ask you to remain calm and trust only official information.’

The puppet administration said in a statement that due to ‘technical reasons’ trains will not be leaving from Feodosia for the time being and that street traffic was partially blocked.

Reports said a strong inferno lasted about 30 minutes (Picture: social media/e2w)

If confirmed, the loss of the Novocherkassk is another major blow for Putin.

It is believed to be one of only a few warships he had not moved further east for safety after previous Ukrainian strikes. 

Many were transferred from the major naval port Sevastopol to over to Novorossiysk to be out of range from Ukraine’s missiles.

Last month, Kyiv destroyed Russia’s newest Black Sea Fleet warship – missile carrier Askold – in Kerch before it had even gone into service.

A strike destroyed the fleet’s Sevastopol headquarters on September 22. 

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Nine days earlier, Ukrainian missiles hit the £250 million Kilo-class attack submarine Rostov-on-Don and large landing ship Minsk in a repair shipyard in naval port Sevastopol.

It took Russia a year to admit it had lost the landing ship Saratov in a missile strike in Berdiansk, a port in the Sea of Azov. 

Two more similar warships, the Novocherkassk and Caesar Kunikov, were earlier damaged, according to reports.

Multiple warships have been damaged, the most embarrassing for Putin being the Moskva frigate – Black Sea Fleet flagship – which was sunk in a strike by Ukrainian Neptune missiles in April 2022. 

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