Ukrainian Missile Strike Cripples New Russian Warship in Black Sea Fleet Before It Sees Battle

A brand new Russian missile carrier has been rendered inoperable before it could even enter service.

Knewz.com reported that a Ukrainian bombardment on the Zaliv shipyard in the Russian-occupied peninsula of Crimea was responsible for the incident.

The commander of Ukraine's air force, Mykola Oleshchuk, confirmed the attack on social media, saying that the shipyard was being used to house one of Russia's most modern warships capable of carrying Kalibre cruise missiles, per Insider.

While Oleshchuk did not name the ship, reports have suggested that it was the Askold, a brand-new ship that had not yet joined the Black Sea Fleet.

Askold, allegedly, was designed to be a formidable vessel. Black Sea Fleet, a website that follows Russian Naval Military developments reports: “The small missile ship is equipped with missile weapons that allow it to strike with high-precision cruise missiles against both sea and ground targets. The vertical launcher 3S14 of the UKSK 3K14 complex for 8 cruise/anti-ship missiles (“Caliber”/ “Onyx”), located behind the ship's wheelhouse, allows strikes with high-precision cruise missiles against ground targets at a distance of up to 2,500 km (1553 miles) and against sea targets at a distance of up to 300 km (186 miles).”

Russia's Ministry of Defense confirmed the attack. State-sponsored media instrument Ria Nostovi posted an update on Telegram, noting, “The Russian Ministry of Defense reports that on Nov. 4, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a strike with 15 cruise missiles at the shipbuilding plant named after. Butomy in Kerch.”

“Thirteen cruise missiles were shot down by air defense systems. As a result of being hit by an enemy cruise missile, a ship located at the plant was damaged," the update added.

13 of these missiles were shot down but at least one found its mark.

A Ukrainian ministerial advisor Anton Gerashchenko shared footage showing a large blaze at the shipyard.

Ukrainian naval captain Andriy Ryzhenko also weighed information saying:

“According to my data on Nov. 4, in Kerch at the time of the explosions, there was only one ship capable of carrying Calibre missiles, namely Askold.”

“I think this ship, as we can see, has been standing by the dock and has been driven mad because it would be turned over in December. You can see that he's still afloat, but the upper part of the ship is significantly damaged,” per Radio Free Europe/Liberty.

It is believed that French-supplied SCALP missiles, also known as Storm Shadow missiles, were used.

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This is the second time in recent months that Ukraine has taken out docked Russian naval vessels with Storm Shadow missiles.

Knewz.com recently reported that an assault with 10 cruise missiles left a landing ship and a dry-docked $310 million submarine gutted.

Ukraine took responsibility for the attack.