Ukrainian Air Force Destroys Russian Landing Ship in Major Strategic Blow

In a significant development in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, the Ukrainian Air Force successfully targeted and destroyed the Russian landing ship Novocherkassk. The military action took place in the early hours of December 26, in the port of Feodosia, located in the occupied territory of Crimea. The event was announced by the Ukrainian Air Force Commander, Mykola Oleshchuk, and signifies a strategic blow to the Russian military’s capabilities in the region.

The Novocherkassk, a large landing ship, represents a significant asset in the Russian Navy. Its destruction likely involved the use of Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG missiles. This loss underscores the continued hostilities and military engagements in the disputed area of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014 but is still considered by Ukraine and much of the international community as Ukrainian territory.

“Currently, the Russian Navy apparently has 19 landing ships actively registered (Novocherkassk included).”

But it can’t get other warships in to the Black Sea, because Turkey blocks transit through the Bosphorus Straits during hostilities (Montreux Convention). So only those stationed in the Black Sea (or Caspian, which is connected by a canal to the Don River).

The Black Sea Fleet had eight Large Landing Ships (Ropucha Class) before the 2022 invasion. Three are total losses so far. They also have four Small Landing Ship, that are dramatically smaller. The Large Landing Ships are what they need to conduct significant amphibious landings (as were planned, but not conducted against Odesa) or are also used to ship weapons and Military supplies.

Three out of eight are total losses, and others have been reported damaged. There may also be some operational issues (Maintenance, readiness), but that is just speculation on my part.

These ships seem to be a high priority target of the Ukrainian forces.

Perhaps their cargoes are a priority to interdict (e.g. drones, cruise missiles, Artillery), perhaps they want to remove them as a resupply option, in case/in preparation for an attack on the Kerch Bridge, or perhaps they seek to set post war conditions where Odesa will not be easily threatened by amphibious attack. (not likely, because as you note, such ships from the Northern or Pacific Fleets will likely be able to redeploy to the Black Sea, after the shooting halts).

You are one dependable propaganda pig.

The price Ukraine paid for defending Maryinka was Russia destroying a share of the Ukrainian military it could not afford to lose.

I don't care what is on social media. With twenty years active duty military experience, I have no doubt that Ukraine cannot defeat Russia, and no doubt the war will not be decided by social media.

What is actually on the international stage is Russia tempting Poland, Hungary, and Romania with their annexation of their ancestral land which used to belong to them. What is at stake is the disappearance of Ukraine as a nation state.

It is a neighborhood conflict and it is not in my neighborhood. In the spirit of Festivus, the neighbors are airing their grievances. I don't care if Ukraine wins or gets carved up like a turkey, but as they are engaged in a military conflict, the outcome is not difficult to predict. Russian artillery is not defeated by propaganda or armchair commandos.

361 feet ain’t no gigantic ship anywhere. It ain't hugh either. Jeff Bezos has a yacht that measures over 400 feet. USN destroyers dwarf that. The USN does not have a frigate that small. An Ohio class submarine is 560 feet. The Los Angeles class attack submarine is 362 feet. Submarines are boats rather than ships.

You would have to go down to a USN minesweeper to get that small. As a warship, it is small. It is about the size of a Small Seaplane Tender such as the Valcour or Duxbury Bay (311 feet). Those little white ships phased out 50 years ago, replaced by a 500 footer, also painted white.

A small naval ship is a small ship, whether it is sitting in the Black Sea or the Pacific Ocean. One does not destroy a huge ship by destroying a small ship in the Black Sea.

Ukraine needs some successes to keep the money and weapons spigot open.

The U.S. MIC needs to keep the spigot open or lose billions of dollars. Like a coal miner of old, Ukraine gets money that is spent at the company store, that be us. As taxpayer dollars are all accounted for elsewhere, Ukraine is financed by borrowed dollars or simply printed dollars added to the federal debt. Ukraine is one method of funneling money out of the government.

Eisenhower warned us about the military-industrial complex. Add to that the green energy-industrial complex. Endless wars are just vehicles to launder and redistribute taxpayer money. Ukraine was one of the most corrupt countries in the world before the war. A leopard doesn’t change its spots. Imagine the level of corruption when the political elites tell us we must spend hundreds of billions to rebuild Ukraine, one of the poorest countries in Europe.

What I find incomprehensible on FR is the blind faith some place in the incompetent, compromised Biden Administration staffed by the same fools and knaves who got us involved in the 2014 coup of the duly elected government of Ukraine. It spawned the separatist movement in the Donbas and the first Russian invasion, unopposed, that resulted in the annexation of Crimea. This war has been ongoing for almost ten years. Our aid is just postponing the inevitable. A negotiated settlement is the only way out.

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