Ukraine has taken out another one of Russia's Black Sea Fleet landing ships, according to Kyiv, after Ukrainian forces destroyed two large landing ships and a key Russian reconnaissance vessel.
The Konstantin Olshansky landing ship "is not combat-capable" following the strike, Ukrainian navy spokesperson Captain Dmytro Pletenchuk told Ukrainian media.
Ukraine's navy said in a statement published on Tuesday that Kyiv had "successfully destroyed" the Konstantin Olshansky, and the three other vessels it targeted since Saturday.
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Kyiv's military said Sunday it attacked two of Russia's large landing ships, the Yamal and the Azov, in strikes on the Crimean port city of Sevastopol. Ukraine also said it had targeted a Russian communications hub and other, unspecified infrastructure facilities.
In a later statement, Pletenchuk said the Ivan Khurs reconnaissance ship may have sustained damage. It was one of two of this type of reconnaissance vessel at Russia's disposal, Marina Miron, a post-doctoral researcher with the War Studies Department at King's College London told Newsweek earlier this week.
Ukraine's navy is small, but Kyiv has been inventive in its use of missiles and naval drones against Moscow's Black Sea Fleet, partially based in Crimea. Russia's military has been ill-equipped to fend off Ukraine's frequent attacks, sustaining heavy losses in sharp contrast to the grinding success Moscow has had in gaining territory in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials estimate that Russia has lost up to a third of its Black Sea Fleet at Kyiv's hands.
Ukraine used a home-grown Neptune anti-ship missile to strike the Konstantin Olshansky, which was being "prepared for use against Ukraine," Pletenchuk said. Russia's military took the ship from Ukraine's forces in 2014 when the Kremlin annexed the Crimean peninsula to the south of mainland Ukraine.
Ukraine's Neptune anti-ship missiles were credited with sinking Russia's Black Sea Fleet flagship, the Moskva, in April 2022.
Pletenchuk said the attack on the Konstantin Olshansky landing ship had taken place on Saturday, the same day as the strikes on the Yamal and Azov, according to Ukrainian media.
Open-source intelligence accounts and Russian military bloggers reported that Ukraine had used Western-supplied air-launched Storm Shadow and SCALP cruise missiles to strike the Crimean port on Saturday. A total of 18 missiles rained down on Sevastopol, and Russian air defenses intercepted 11 of the missiles, according to the independent Russian outlet Astra.
Kyiv's military intelligence agency said on Monday that the Yamal was in a "critical" condition.
The Yamal and the Azov were Ropucha-class vessels, playing an "important role" in Russian logistics, said Sidharth Kaushal, research fellow in sea power at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank in London.
The loss of several Ropucha-class vessels will hinder Russian logistics, Kaushal told Newsweek. "They are the key logistical contribution the Black Sea Fleet makes to the wider war effort, linking Crimea to the mainland."
Ukraine's successful targeting of the ships will likely force Moscow to transport its supplies by land, increasing Russia's reliance on key routes like the Crimea Bridge that links the Russian Krasnodar region with Crimea, he said.
Ukraine has jeopardized Russia's operations in the northwestern Black Sea and has forced Moscow to relocate some of its Black Sea assets further away from Ukraine's reach to its Novorossiysk base.
Reports have also suggested the Kremlin is planning a new military base at the port of Ochamchire in Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia. This would put Russian Black Sea assets even further from Ukraine's coastline.
The British Defense Ministry evaluated last week that Russia had likely restricted most of its operations to the eastern Black Sea.
Russia has employed decoys to confuse Kyiv's operators, British intelligence assessed last week. Moscow has announced it will beef up the protection around its fleet with large-caliber machine guns to shoot down incoming naval drones before they strike Russian vessels.
Update 3/26/24, 10:20 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Sidharth Kaushal.
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Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more
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