Ukrainian missile strike on Russian warship Admiral Essen marked debut of Neptune missile — Navy
Ukraine has revealed that its Neptune anti-ship missile was first used to target the Russian frigate Admiral Essen, Navy Commander Oleksiy Neyizhpapa said in an interview with NV’s sister publication Ukrainska Pravda on Jan. 11.
The missile was fired in April 2022, when the Admiral Essen, along with landing craft, approached the Ukrainian coast near the Tendra Spit near the port of Pivdennyi, Mykolaiv Oblast.
At the time, Russian forces were carrying out so-called “demonstration actions” to prevent Ukraine from deploying marine units to the front lines due to the threat of a Russian amphibious landing, Neyizhpapa said.
Read also: Ukrainian Air Force hits Russian command post at Saky airfield overnight – commander
The commander noted that the first Neptune attacks were not as successful as the subsequent strikes on the cruiser Moskva. Nevertheless, the Essen was severely damaged and several members of the crew on board were killed.
"The ship urgently returned to Sevastopol for repairs,” said the admiral.
“The missile did not hit the ship directly, as I understand it. There was an explosion right next to the ship. It damaged the weapon systems on the frigate.”
Read also: Neptune anti-ship missile struck Russian S-400 radar in Crimea — report
Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk has announced that Ukraine is now working on a new modification of the Neptune missile.
According to the U.S.-based military news outlet The Drive, an anonymous source in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has claimed that Kyiv is attempting to improve the range of Neptune missiles so that they can reach Moscow and other regions of Russia.
The RK-360 Neptune is a Ukrainian anti-ship cruise missile that flies at ultra-low altitudes. It has a range of up to 280 km, a speed of 900 km/h, and a warhead weight of 250 kg. The weapon has been used in several high-profile strikes.
The Moskva missile cruiser, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, sank in the Black Sea on April 14, 2022 after being hit by a precision strike from Ukrainian Neptune missiles the previous day.
A unit from Ukraine’s SBU security service, together with the Ukrainian Navy, destroyed Russia’s Triumph air defense systems near Yevpatoriya using drones and Neptune missiles on Sept. 14, according to NV's source in the SBU.
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