Half of the Russian amphibious assault capacity destroyed, says Commander of the Ukrainian Navy
In almost two years of full-scale war in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have eliminated three large landing ships of the aggressor country Russia, now including the Novocherkassk , and several landing boats. According to the Commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Vice Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, this means their amphibious capability has been cut in half. He stated this in an interview with the Voice of America on December 26th.
"The Black Sea Fleet's ability to land amphibious assaults has decreased to a battalion. That is, earlier, they could land two battalions at the same time, and now only one," Neizhpapa said.
He added that military amphibious ships with the Russian flag are one of the priority targets of the Armed Forces, as well as Kalibr missile carrier ships.
According to the Vice Admiral, Russia currently uses amphibious ships to transport cargo between the territory of the Russian Federation and occupied Crimea. He did not rule out that there could be Shaheds on board the Novocherkassk since the detonation "was very large."
The ship is completely destroyed; there is no point in restoring it, Neizhpapa emphasized.
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On the night of December 26, a powerful explosion rang out in occupied Feodosia near the port. Later, the commander of the Air Force, Mykola Oleschuk, announced the attack on the large Russian amphibious assault ship Novocherkassk, thanking the Ukrainian pilots.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine declared that the attack was carried out by cruise missiles.
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Yuriy Ignat, the spokesman of the Air Force Command, said that it would be extremely difficult for the Novocherkask ship to survive after this. According to him, "clearly more than one rocket" was used in the strike.
Later, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation confirmed the attack on the Novocherkassk. Russian sources stated that the ship "was damaged" during the repulse of the attack of the Armed Forces.
Subsequently, a photograph of the consequences of the attack on the Novocherkassk VDK appeared on the Internet. In the photo, you can see that only a pile of burnt metal remains at the place where the ship was probably moored.
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After the destruction of Novocherkassk, two Russian warships left the seaport area of occupied Feodosia, Krym.Realii reported.
This was the second attack on the ship. For the first time, the Armed Forces damaged Novocherkassk in March 2022, when they destroyed another ship in the port of occupied Berdyansk, the Saratov.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
