Ukraine attacks Russian landing ship, Moscow confirms damage

Quoting the Russian Defense Ministry , Interfax news site said that Ukraine launched a missile attack on the port of Feodosia in Crimea and the large landing ship Novocherkassk was damaged in the attack.

The Kremlin said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported the attack to President Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said he believed the Novocherkassk – a landing ship that can carry tanks, armored vehicles and troops – was unlikely to return to service.

“We could see the scale of the explosion. After such an explosion, it would be very difficult for warships to survive, because it was not a missile that exploded, but an explosion originating from the detonation of ammunition,” he told Radio Free Europe.

Mr Ihnat said Ukraine used cruise missiles in the attack but gave no other details. Britain and France have both provided cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Footage posted by Russian media on Telegram, which is believed to have been filmed at the port during the attack, shows several large explosions and fires.

Several videos on social media purported to show the attack also showed a huge explosion. An unverified daytime photograph of what several Ukrainian bloggers claim is the remains of the attacked ship shows a large mass of charred debris floating on the water next to a dock.

Target in Crimea

World - Ukraine attacks Russian landing ship, Moscow confirms damage — Photo: REUTERS/Yoruk Isik/File photo.

Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed governor of Crimea, said on Telegram that one person was killed in the attack. The RIA news agency reported that four people were injured.

Although Ukraine's counterattack has not made much progress on the battlefield and the Russian army has regained the initiative in many areas, Ukraine has still launched a series of attacks on Crimea, the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, causing heavy damage.

Previous attacks have been carried out on ships in dry dock, warships moored in the main port of Sevastopol, airstrips, the main building of the Black Sea Fleet headquarters and the bridge connecting southern Russia with Crimea.

Throughout the war, Russia used its fleet to cut off Ukraine and the Black Sea, the main export route for agricultural and steel products that contribute greatly to the country's economy .

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram poked fun at the fact that the Ukrainian air force helped expand Russia's submarine fleet by sinking landing ships.

“There will be no safe place in Ukraine for the occupiers,” he wrote.

The Ukrainian air force said pilots attacked Feodosia at around 02:30 local time (00:30 GMT), destroying the Novocherkassk.

The commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Mykola Oleshchuk, wrote on Telegram: “The Russian fleet is getting smaller! Thanks to the pilots of the air force and those involved!”

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, wrote on Telegram that Russia would obviously not give details of the attack while the fighting continued, but he also said that Russia needed to do better to protect its assets in Crimea.

“It is clear that Crimea’s air defense system needs to be improved. And it is clear that it is necessary to prevent the possibility that Ukraine could have the opportunity to attack Russia.”

Feodosia, with a population of about 69,000, is a town on the southern coast of the Crimean Peninsula.

Nguyen Quang Minh (according to Reuters)

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