Posted on 12/26/2023 6:54:14 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The Novocherkassk is (or was) a 112 meter long amphibious landing ship, part of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. Today Ukraine announced the ship had been destroyed while in port in Crimea.
The Ukrainian Air Force said on its Telegram channel that it attacked the port of Feodosia around 2:30 a.m. local time. The port is in eastern Crimea, the contested peninsula that Moscow annexed in 2014 and has occupied since. A video showing a fire followed by a massive explosion that could be seen from miles away was verified by social media intelligence firm Storyful as being shot at the right time and place to coincide with the attack…
The 370-foot-long ship that Ukraine claimed to have sunk on Tuesday, the Novocherkassk, is designed to land troops and vehicles during amphibious assaults. It can carry 10 tanks and 340 personnel. The ship’s regular crew is 87 people. Ukraine’s military had previously claimed to have damaged it in May during another attack.
In the video below, you can see the ship appeared to be burning before a huge secondary explosion took place:
The clearest video yet of the large secondary explosion that destroyed the Russian landing ship Novocherkassk, after the ship was struck by Ukrainian missiles in port last night. pic.twitter.com/NCh7WAQR4p
— Jimmy Rushton (@JimmySecUK) December 26, 2023
There is speculations that the secondary explosion was caused by the ship’s cargo, possibly a load of Iranian drones.
Patrick Bury, a security and defence expert and former Nato analyst, told the BBC News Channel there was speculation that the ship was carrying Iranian-made Shahed drones, which Russia has been using in its attacks on Ukrainian targets.
Speaking on Ukrainian TV, the head of the press centre for Ukraine’s southern command, Nataliya Humenyuk, said it was “clear that such a large detonation was caused by more than just the fuel or ammunition of the ship itself”…
“So, it is quite likely that it [the Novocherkassk’s cargo] was a kind of “Christmas present, completely wrapped,” she said.
Taking the ship out of action, even if only temporarily, will no doubt hamper Russia’s ability to supply troops in territory it occupies further north.
Outside observers also agree that the explosion looks like it was related to cargo and notes the ship was fairly close to a site where Russia regularly launches drones.
Andrii Klymenko, the head of the Black Sea Institute of Strategic Studies, agreed. “Judging by the video of the explosion, which was very powerful, it was carrying explosives: either shells or missiles, or, as some people say, drones,” he wrote in a text message.
Mr. Klymenko noted that the port of Feodosia was close to Cape Chauda, which he said Russia has long used as a launch site for attack drones.
Russia has acknowledged the ship was “damaged” but Ukrainian sources are saying it’s beyond repair. That photo above (top tweet) allegedly shows what’s left of it sticking out of the sea. That photo hasn’t been confirmed by major news organizations yet but pieces of the ship reportedly landed hundreds of meters away. This is from a Russian news report in the port city of Feodosia.
/17. Fragment of the Novocherkassk shown in post number 16 has traveled approximately 650 meters from the initialship location (45.022502, 35.390366) https://t.co/6qkhWJuLsm pic.twitter.com/GtU1d0ccpx
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) December 26, 2023
Finally, Russia is claiming it shot down two Ukrainian fighter jets who fired missiles at the ship, but Ukraine denies losing any planes. Here’s a video showing what the Novocherkassk looked like prior to today.
Was just a ship destroyed or was some mother’s child destroyed too?
Wow, they’re destroying a major Russian ship every 3-5 hours!
I think it’s more that the Zeepers have been posting about the Novocherkassk every 3 to 5 hours.
Any idea how many sitting ducks, er ships, the 5th Fleet regularly has sitting in port in Bahrain?
It will be deserved again tomorrow!
—> I think it’s more that the Zeepers have been posting about the Novocherkassk every 3 to 5 hours.
So this is just a constant repost of the same ship??
It will be destroyed again tomorrow!
Darn autocorrect
all the posts here in the past 2 days have been about the same ship.
Yup. It's become redundant click-bait at this point.
Do the Zeepers know it's the same ship?
I'm starting to think they have no idea...
But, how is this strike even possible?
Didn’t you Russian shills repeatedly tell us for the last 2 years that “Ukraine is finished” and “the war is over”??
You lied to us!
Ukraine is still alive and fighting back!
You boys should go outside once in a while.
it was the first real victory Ukraine has had in a while. I’m sure we’ll see a few more posts about this ship before the week is over.
I can tell you that unless NATO creates a false flag to justify their desire to attack Russia, Ukraine loses.
Can Ukraine use the missiles it receives and the targeting info, etc. to hit something, sure.
That is different than winning - or recovering what they lost.
Ukraine is still alive and fighting back!
I for one, give a lot of credit to the disabled and +50 year old Ukrainians who were conscripted and occasionally have something to cheer about. But they know...
That is true. Little to cheer and dance about. It's nice they can pump their fists and do the jig.
In the News/Activism forum, on a thread titled Ukraine Destroys Another Russian Warship, MNDude wrote: it was the first real victory Ukraine has had in a while. I’m sure we’ll see a few more posts about this ship before the week is over.
Apparently it still wasn't a Ukrainian victory. The Russians said a ship was hit, the Kyiv money grifters said an important ship was hit.
Well, the landing ship, Novocherkassk, had been out of action and in need of spare parts for over a year before it was destroyed so, way to go Ukrainians! It's HARD to hit a ship that lacks parts needed to make it move or do anything useful! MAJOR strategic win! Biggest Ukrainian 'win' so far! Amazing display of warfare prowess. Almost as hard as hitting a dock!https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_landing_ship_Novocherkassk
On 24 August 2022 it was reported Novocherkassk and sister ship Caesar Kunikov were out of action due to lack of spare parts to repair the ships. The lack of spare parts was attributed to the sanctions imposed on Russia.[9]
On 26 December 2023, the ship was reportedly destroyed by the Ukrainian Air Force.[10][11]
It was fixed, it seems, well enough to have been in and out of the port several times since October. Add to that it was evidently loaded with a large explosive cargo. The “secondary” explosion was impressive.
Next Ukraine will brag about delivering a missile strike on an abandoned parking lot that had a Russian tank lying there for 25 years used as spare parts LOL
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