Ukraine Destroys Another Russian Landing Warship With Naval Drones Near Crimea

Ukraine has impaired a landing warship that belongs to Russia off the coast of Crimea amid an operation with the naval drones that reportedly breached the port side of the vessel on Wednesday and made it sink, explained the military spy agency as well as armed forces of Kyiv.

There wasn’t any immediate comment from Russia, which had mentioned earlier that it successfully impaired six drones in the waters of the Black Sea. The Kremlin refused to make any comment. The Ukrainian Armed Forces, with the Defence Ministry’s intelligence unit, impaired the large landing vessel named Tsezar Kunikov. It was in the territorial waters of Ukraine close to Alupka when the hit took place, the military mentioned on Telegram.

The Black Sea’s resort town of Alupka is not located far away from Yalta, which lies on the southern edge of Crimea, which Russia’s forces first seized and then annexed from Ukraine back in 2014. Better security in the Black Sea and enhanced motivation for the people were added.

Video Credits: The Independent/Twitter

This is crucial. Step by step, they will clear the Black Sea of Russia’s terrorist objects, explained Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s President, in a video address. Ukrainian GUR military intelligence agency mentioned that the warship seemed to have been loaded as it sank and that, right before the attack, it spent ten days at a loading spot used by Russia’s military.

It also published grainy footage on Telegram to purport and show many naval drones approaching a huge vessel at night and at least one massive explosion. Reuters could also verify the vessel in the video as the Tsezar Kunikov, which belongs to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, based on the main mast, bridge deck, and antenna.

The date and the location of the footage could not be verified independently. In summary, the Tsezar Kunikov received a crucial breach on the port side, and it began sinking, the GUR agency reported in one of its statements. The Project 775 warship, one of the newest vessels from Russia, comprised a crew of 87 members and took part in wars across Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria, GUR mentioned in its statement.

One of the Ukrainian news outlets published many videos reflecting a column of thick smoke rising over the sea off the southern coast of Crimea with the helicopters overhead. Ukraine has made use of navy drones (uncrewed) loaded with explosives for attacking Russia’s warships to drive them out of the Black Sea, making it highly possible for Ukraine to open up a shipping corridor along a conventionally crucial export path.

Ukraine has no large naval vessels left and scuttled its flagship deliberately at the start of Russia’s invasion to prevent it from going into Russia’s hands. Newly built naval drones were essential for Ukraine as it tried to narrow the gap in its naval capabilities with that of Russia, which has a Black Sea Fleet, which Kyiv has long been striving to degrade.

A senior U.S. State Department official has stated that using drones was an asymmetrical way to rebalance the security scenario in the Black Sea. It was helping grow the Ukrainian economy to sustain the war efforts. “The fact that Russia’s navy can’t operate in the Black Sea at its will, compared to how it can use it at the beginning of the war, is a shift in the strategic positioning in the Black Sea area, the official informed the reporters.

A senior security official from Ukraine mentioned in December that it had destroyed 20% of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Ukraine’s Navy spokesperson, Dmytro Pletenchuk, noted that Russia was left with five large landing vessels in the Black Sea. Ukraine’s military says that it has also destroyed 25 military ships and a submarine during the war to date. Last month, Ukraine’s cruise missiles also struck another large landing warship of Russia in Crimea.

Reference: Reuters

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Source: Maritime Shipping News