Report: 19 Injured, 33 Missing in Strike on Russian Amphib
The independent Russian news channel Astra has confirmed that a Black Sea Fleet amphibious assault ship was sunk by Ukrainian forces in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The airstrike hit the Ropucha-class tank landing ship Novocherkassk at the port of Feodosia, in Russian-occupied Crimea. The initial blast started a fire, followed by a massive secondary explosion aboard the vessel.
The Russian defense ministry confirmed the strike and asserted that the ship was damaged. Satellite imagery taken later on Tuesday appeared to show that Novocherkassk had sunk at the pier, and independent Russian outlet Astra has released a photo confirming that the vessel has settled to the bottom. The top of its burned superstructure may be seen protruding from the water.
Astra also reported that casualty numbers were far higher than claimed by official Russian sources. According to the outlet, 77 sailors were aboard at the time of the blast, and 33 of them are believed to be missing. 19 others were wounded, and one port security guard was killed. (The casualty report could not be independently confirmed.)
"Such ships, as a rule, are not left without a crew," Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk told Radio Svoboda. "And the crew is about 80 people. Given this type of ship, there could also be [others aboard]. The fact that this could not be done without victims is more like the truth."
By Pletenchuk's tally, seven of the Black Sea Fleet's 13 amphibs have been disabled or destroyed by Ukrainian strikes. Only six remain for military transport purposes. These ships are used to ferry munitions around the theater for Russian ground forces, and removing the vessels from service is a way to disrupt logistics for the invasion, he said.
Video: Ukrainian Strike Obliterates Russian Ship in Massive Blast
[Updated 12/26] Another Russian Navy landing ship has been attacked and destroyed by Ukrainian forces, adding to a growing tally of Black Sea Fleet ships that have been taken out of commission.
In a brief message Tuesday morning, the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that the Ropucha-class landing ship Novocherkassk was destroyed in Feodosia, Crimea overnight. The AFU credited the attack to Ukrainian Air Force pilots.
"Crimea is Ukraine. There is no place for the occupier's fleet here," the AFU wrote.
The Russian defense ministry confirmed the strike in a statement to state media, and officials claimed that the two Ukrainian aircraft that launched the attack had been shot down. The ministry asserted that the ship was "damaged," but bystander videos and early satellite imagery appear to suggest a constructive total loss (and possible sinking).
The Russian-appointed governor of occupied Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, confirmed that there had been "explosions from detonations of ordnance" stored in the port area. Multiple bystanders captured the event on video (below), and appear to depict a massive secondary explosion centered on the burning ship.
The first available satellite imagery of the scene appears to show a partially-sunken vessel at the location of the attack. Based on geolocation using historical imagery, the half-sunken wreckage shown within the red rectangle in the satellite photo corresponds to the location of the burning vessel (see video below).
Planet / Mark Krutov / X
Past satellite photos from October 2 provided by MT Anderson and Planet Labs appear to show a Ropucha-class landing ship berthed in the same location.
It is the latest in a long string of Ukrainian strikes on the Russian Navy, and the accumulated toll is having a strategic effect. Russian warships have pulled back from the port of Sevastopol, Crimea, retreating to the safety of Novorossyisk further east. The attack in Feodosia - a small port town halfway between the two larger seaports - confirms that Ukraine can reach deeper into Russian-held territory.
Ukrainian forces also destroyed a Russian landing ship at Sevastopol in September 2023 and another at Berdyansk in March 2022. (According to Mash.ru, the Novocherkassk was hit in the Berdyansk strike as well, but survived until her sinking Monday night.)
Other well-known attacks include the sinking of the Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva in April 2022, the destruction of a Kilo-class sub in Sevastopol in September 2023 and a strike on a brand new missile boat at a yard in Kerch last month. In all, Ukraine says that its forces have taken 23 Russian vessels (of all kinds) out of action.
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