Ukraine says it sank a Russian submarine by missile strike in Crimea

According to the Ukrainian military, a Russian submarine was anchored at a port on the Crimean peninsula that was under occupation when it was attacked and destroyed.

The general staff of Ukraine stated in a statement that the attack submarine, the Rostov-on-Don, which was commissioned in 2014 and was of the kilo class, sank on Friday as a result of being hit by missiles fired into the port city of Sevastopol.

This was supposedly one of four Russian Black Sea navy submarines that could fire Kalibr cruise missiles. Not a word from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Four S-400 air defense systems guarding the peninsula, which Russia unlawfully annexed in 2014, were also destroyed, according to Kyiv officials.

While undergoing maintenance at a shipyard in Sevastopol, the Rostov-on-Don “likely suffered catastrophic damage” in a missile strike, according to intelligence sources in the UK last September.

The military of Ukraine claimed that after Russia fixed the submarine, it was recently testing its capabilities close to Sevastopol. They also stated the submarine’s $300 million (£233 million) value.

The general staff in Kyiv released a statement on Saturday that stated, “The destruction of Rostov-on-Don once again proves that there is no safe place for the Russian fleet in the Ukrainian territorial waters of the Black Sea.”

This is the most recent strike in recent months against Russian naval forces at Sevastopol. Ukraine claimed to have struck two landing ships and a patrol boat in the port city just in March.

Following its unannounced invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has had several significant naval losses. Ukraine claims to have destroyed or severely damaged at least fifteen warships, including the Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea fleet.

The Ukrainian military announced last week that Moscow had been compelled to remove all of its naval forces from the Sea of Azov, a body of water that connects to the Black Sea, as a result of persistent attacks on its ships.

Additionally, Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia’s last surviving aircraft carrier, was to be destroyed, but a Ukrainian plot was thwarted, according to the country’s internal security agency, the FSB. Since 2018, the 1985-launched ship has been receiving repairs.

A significant airbase and Russian oil installations were targeted by the Ukrainian drones, according to Kyiv officials.

The strike was directed at the Morozovsk airfield, which houses the guided bombs that have recently destroyed numerous cities in Ukraine.

Strong explosions and massive fires were shown in online footage purportedly from the site, following what looked to be multiple hits on ammo or fuel dumps. A state of emergency has been proclaimed by the local authorities around the air base, despite Russia’s claims that many of the drones in operation were shot down.

Additionally, targets in the districts of Belgorod, Kursk, and Rostov included oil storage facilities.

President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Russia had dropped around 600 guided air bombs on Ukraine in a single week before the strikes.

He stated that hitting Russian airfields to halt Russian aircraft from launching weapons was “quite fair” and that Ukraine needed to do so.

Although the US has lately permitted Kyiv to attack specific targets along the border, Ukraine’s partners have traditionally been hesitant to permit it to launch strikes within Russia using Western weapons.

The foreign minister of Lithuania announced earlier this week that the first F-16 fighter jet shipments had reached Ukraine. NATO allies of Kyiv have long promised to provide the planes, and President Zelenky sees them as essential to his nation’s air defense strategies.

Six jets given by the Netherlands have reportedly landed in the nation, according to The Times newspaper. Earlier this week, Dutch defense officials declined to comment.

Additionally, officials in Kyiv will be hoping that the aircraft and submarines might halt Russian advances on the front lines. For several weeks now, Moscow’s forces have been gradually gaining ground in the east of the nation.