According to the British Ministry of Defence, Ukraine’s ability to target Russian naval and military infrastructure along the Crimean coastline may force Russians to relocate their vessels farther away from the frontline.
On Saturday, 4 November, Mykola Oleshchuk, Ukrainian Air Force Commander, announced that Ukrainian forces targeted a Russian military ship capable of carrying Kalibr missiles in a strike against Russian-occupied Crimea. Oleshchuk did not specify which military vessel was damaged during the strike. A day later, on 5 November, journalists of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Schemes project published satellite images of the Zaliv shipyard in the city of Kerch in Crimea, captured by Planet Labs. According to those images, there is an impact site in the shipyard and a military ship, which appears to be severely damaged.
Sergey Aksyonov, head of the illegal Russian occupation administration in Ukrainian Crimea, claimed on Saturday in his Telegram channel that the local air defence system downed the missiles and debris from one of them fell onto one of the dry docks, causing no casualties. Later on, however, the Ukrainian strike was confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry, who claimed that the air defence system intercepted 15 out of 13 missiles.
On 6 November, the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Office of Strategic Communications confirmed that Ukraine’s earlier strike on Zaliv shipyard on 4 November caused significant damage to the Askold cruise missile carrier, potentially rendering it beyond repair.
On Tuesday, 7 November, Defense Express, a Ukrainian online military magazine, published an analysis of the damage, asserting that Ukraine became the first country to target an enemy’s naval vessel even before it had been put into operation and left the shipyard. The magazine also analysed photos of the strike’s aftermath, pointing out that although the ship remained afloat, it suffered critical damage to its essential components, and it is probable that Russian occupation forces will have to rebuild the vessel from scratch.
According to Defense Express, the SCALP-EG missiles, which were most likely used to target the vessel, hit the central part of the hull of the Askold corvette, where the eight vertical Kalibr launchers and P-800 Oniks cruise missiles were located. The ship’s primary armament system has been completely destroyed. Defense Express also estimated that the onboard equipment and diesel engines located in the central part are unlikely to be repaired.
The Askold was a small 22800 Karakut class missile ship, capable of carrying up to eight Kalibr missiles and, according to the Ukrainian military’s Office of Strategic Communications, a stealth ship, employing technology intended to make vessels practically invisible to enemy radar or other electronic detection. According to Andriy Ryzhenko, Ukrainian Navy captain, disabling such a vessel will have a highly significant impact on Ukraine’s security. The Askold was supposed to be commissioned into the Russian Black Sea Fleet in December this year.
