Ukraine destroyed a Russian large landing craft off the coast of occupied Crimea in a naval drone operation that tore through the port side of the vessel and caused it to sink on Wednesday, the 14th of February, citing the General Intelligence Agency (GUR) in Kyiv and the armed forces, reports Reuters.
Russia, which earlier said it had destroyed six drones in the Black Sea, had yet to comment and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment.
On Telegram it said that the GUR, in cooperation with the armed forces, had destroyed the large landing ship Cezar Kunikov in Ukrainian territorial waters near Alupka.
GUR published footage on Telegram purporting to show several naval drones approaching a large vessel at night, followed by at least one large explosion. Reuters was able to confirm that the ship seen in the video is the Russian Black Sea Fleet ship “Cezar Kunikov”.
‼️ Russian Big Landing Ship (BLS) “Caesar Kunikov” attacked in the Black Sea
This was reported by Ukrainian and Russian media. According to the Ukrainian media, the ship was sunk, but there is no confirmation of this information yet.
Telegram channel “Crimean wind” published… pic.twitter.com/Fh09of5BHf
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) February 14, 2024
“Overall, the Cezar Kunikov suffered critical damage on its port side and began to sink,” the GUR said in a statement, adding that the warship Project 775, one of Russia’s newest vessels, has a crew of 87 and took part in the wars in Georgia, Syria and Ukraine
Ukraine has used drones packed with explosives to attack Russian warships in an attempt to force them out of the Black Sea, allowing Ukraine to open a shipping corridor along an important export route. The newly developed naval drones have been crucial for Ukraine, which is trying to destroy the Russian Black Sea fleet.
Dmitry Pletenchuk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian navy, has said that Russia had five landing ships left in the Black Sea. The Ukrainian armed forces claim to have “destroyed” 25 Russian military vessels and one submarine during the war. Earlier this month, Ukrainian missiles hit another large Russian landing ship in Crimea.
It is worth to note that the Soviet hero Tsaezar Kunikov, after whom the ship was named, died on the 14th of February 1943.
Also read: Research centre: Russia refurbishes old tanks after losing 3 000 in Ukraine
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