Among multiple explosions, a huge fireball rose high above the pier in the Crimean coastal city of Feodosia early Tuesday Morning local time. According to Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, a strike by his forces caused the destruction of the Ropucha class landing ship Novocherkassk. While we cannot confirm the general’s claim, based on open source imagery, a vessel very similar to a Ropucha class ship has been photographed on fire or next to a pier that is on fire.
https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1739448352020873541?s=20 https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1739468053539405897?s=20 https://twitter.com/Global_Mil_Info/status/1739465309076037696?s=20 https://twitter.com/evgesha92x/status/1739490058690789686?s=20
In addition, low-resolution satellite imagery taken by Planet Labs on the 24th does show a Ropucha in the same berth.
“And the fleet in Russia is getting smaller and smaller! Thanks to the Air Force pilots and everyone involved for the filigree work!” Oleschuk declared on Telegram, according to Reuters.
Feodosia sits on the southeastern shore of Crimea, about 60 miles from the Kerch Bridge to the east and 100 miles from Sevastopol to the west.
The town features a relatively small harbor and pier that can support a handful of cargo ships. It’s worth noting that the harbor does have booms and barriers at its entrance to keep unmanned surface vessels (USV) at bay and to foil other forms of surface/subsurface attacks.
There are claims floating around that the ship was carrying Iranian munitions, although we have seen nothing in terms of real evidence to back this up. Clearly, the vessel and/or the pier was laden with some very high explosive cargo.
Regardless, these vessels, which are built primarily for executing beach assaults, have taken on many roles during Russia’s nearly two-year-long all-out war with Ukraine. These have included everything from cargo hauling to providing ferry service. They were also very active globally in the final lead-up to Russia’s invasion, transferring materiel from around the globe to Russia’s ports on the Black Sea.
The Ropucha fleet has suffered over the course of the conflict, with multiple examples being badly damaged by Ukrainian strikes. Even the same ship supposedly struck today was thought to have been damaged in another pier-side explosion earlier in the war.
If Ukraine had intelligence that the Novocherkassk was laden with munitions and weaponry, it would have presented a prime target for Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian Air Forces’ Su-24 Fencers have been put to work as Storm Shadow and SCALP-EG launch platforms, which would have been the logical weapon in this case. Such a strike would have mirrored those on another Ropucha class ship and a Kilo class submarine in drydock in Sevastopol, as well as a more recent strike near Kerch that destroyed a brand new Russian missile corvette.
On the other hand, it could have been prosecuted by another system, such as via a long-range drone strike. Even catastrophic accidents are possible, too. We just don’t know enough at this time.
We will update this post when new information comes available.
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