Russian warship suffered an explosion equivalent to 30 tons of TNT after being hit by a Ukrainian missile?

Chiến hạm Nga chịu vụ nổ tương đương 30 tấn TNT vì trúng tên lửa Ukraine? - 1 — Russian warship explodes after being hit by a Ukrainian missile (Photo: Forbes).

According to Forbes , in the missile attack by Ukraine in the early morning of December 26, the Russian landing ship Novocherkask docked at the port of Feodosia, Crimea, apparently suffered more than one explosion, with the second explosion having the destructive power of 30 tons of TNT.

An American newspaper showed a video of a violent explosion several hours later on a Russian warship, showing that the Ukrainian missile, in addition to causing the initial explosion, also seemed to lead to a larger secondary explosion.

Video of explosions shaking Crimea after Ukrainian raid

Ukraine claims to have fired cruise missiles from tactical aircraft at the ship, using British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles and a similar variant, the French-made SCALP missile.

Both missiles supplied to Ukraine weigh more than 1.36 tons, have a range of 250 km and have tandem explosive warheads. This technology includes a dual warhead, in which one warhead is responsible for penetrating the iron layer, the other is responsible for detonating to destroy the target from the inside.

Forbes quoted sources as saying that the Novocherkassk appeared to be carrying 4,400 artillery shells and 280 land-based rockets at the time of the Ukrainian missile attack. This may be why the Novocherkassk exploded violently after the missile hit the ship.

According to the American newspaper's hypothesis, the missile's warhead caused a fire that spread to the weapons storage area and ignited artillery shells and rockets that were expected to be supplied to Russian regiments and brigades fighting in southern Kherson, bordering Crimea.

Forbes estimates that Novocherkask could have exploded with the force of 30 tons of TNT, based on the amount of shells and rockets on board, if the information obtained by the US is accurate.

This is a very powerful bomb. The most powerful non-nuclear bomb today, Russia's "Father of All Bombs", is slightly more powerful.

If the Russian landing ship was indeed attacked while carrying weapons, it would be a double loss for Moscow, as it would lose an important ship in the Black Sea Fleet's supply efforts to combat units, and a large amount of artillery shells needed for the war of attrition.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said the Novocherkask had suffered a major explosion. Footage showed that it was not a "small explosion but an ammunition explosion because this is a large landing ship used to transport equipment, weapons and personnel."

He added that to destroy a Russian ship, Ukraine would need to launch “obviously more than one missile because the enemy has the capability to intercept cruise missiles”.

Russia has not commented on Mr. Ihnat’s statement regarding the damage to the ship. Russia only confirmed that the landing ship was damaged but did not give details.

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