New Delhi: The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian defence ministry has reported to have destroyed a Russian landing ship, Caesar Kunikov, using maritime drones in an early morning attack Wednesday near the city of Alupka in Crimea.
In a statement published on its Telegram channel, the Ukrainian army claims to have used the Magura V5 unmanned surface boats, which critically damaged the Russian landing ship on its port side.
“On February 14, 2024, the Main Intelligence Directorate… destroyed the large landing ship ‘Caesar Kunikov’ of the Black Sea Fleet of the aggressor state of Russia. The successful mission was carried out by special forces of ‘Group 13’ of the Main Intelligence Directorate,” the Ukrainian army stated.
“The enemy ship was attacked by Magura V5 maritime attack drones off the coast of temporarily-occupied Crimea near the city of Alupka. As a result, the ‘Caesar Kunikov’ received critical holes on the port side and began to sink,” the statement added.
Ukraine further highlighted that the Russian ship could accommodate 87 crew members and that a “search and rescue operation” conducted by Russia in the waters after the attack was not successful.
The Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR MO) also released a video of the attack on the Russian ship.
Reuters said in its report that it could verify that the ship under attack in the video released by GUR MO was the Caesar Kunikov, based on its main mast, antenna, bridge and deck. The location and date of the footage could not be independently verified, it added.
The Ukrainian armed forces have claimed to have destroyed 25 Russian naval ships since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022. In December 2023, Ukraine claimed to have destroyed an amphibious assault landing ship Novocherkassk. Russia at the time said the ship had been “damaged”.
On Wednesday’s attack, Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said during a news briefing that “I cannot say anything about this”.
Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), in response to a question from the media Wednesday on Ukraine’s claims of damaging the Caesar Kunikov, said, “The Ukrainians have been able to inflict heavy losses on the Russian Black Sea Fleet.”
“They have actually been able to push the Black Sea Fleet away from the western part of the Black Sea. And this is a great achievement, a great victory for the Ukrainians,” added Stoltenberg.
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Ukraine’s strategy
Ukraine has had a relatively successful few months in damaging Russian assets located on the Crimean peninsula along with reportedly damaging at least two naval ships.
Meanwhile, on land, its army has transitioned into a new phase of war against Russia, “from offensive to defensive”, according to Ukraine’s new army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Syrskyi, appointed last week by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, announced in an interview to German public broadcaster ZDF, published Tuesday, that Kyiv’s armed forces are aiming to “exhaust the enemy” and drain the Russians of their resources using defensive fortifications, drones and electronic warfare systems.
He explained that the war is “entering a new stage” with the use of robotic platforms with a goal to save the lives of Ukrainian military personnel.
Ukraine had in the summer of 2023 launched a counteroffensive against Russia that has seen little success. The frontlines have been static for months, with trench-like conditions witnessed during World War I.
In recent weeks, Russia has been focusing on capturing the town of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, about 20 km from Donetsk. Russian forces have attempted to sever the single road that supplies Ukrainian forces in the town.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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