33 Russian sailors missing after attack on Novocherkassk ship

FIRE IN THE PORT OF FEODOSIA. PHOTO: ASTRA

At least 19 Russian sailors are injured and 33 are missing after the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the Novocherkassk large landing ship in the port of temporarily occupied Feodosiia, Crimea.

Source: Astra, a Russian independent Telegram channel, with reference to its sources; Telegram channel Agentstvo; 3rd Rank Captain Dmytro Pletenchuk, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy, in an interview with Radio Liberty

Details: Astra stated that 77 sailors were on board the vessel at the time of the attack on the night of 25-26 December. In addition to those who have gone missing, 19 sailors have been injured.

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Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed puppet leader of Crimea, previously reported one  civilian killed and four injured as a result of the attack on the port.

The fact that there were sailors on the Novocherkassk ship at the time of the attack was also reported earlier by Agentstvo, another Russian media outlet. It said that at least two officers could have been on board the vessel at the time of the attack.

Updated at 11:17: 3rd Rank Captain Dmytro Pletenchuk, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy, reported that the Novocherkassk large landing ship should have had personnel on it, even when it was in port. The result of the attack on the ship is still being established, as reconnaissance in the occupied territory is a difficult task.

Quote: “A fairly large part of the crew was supposed to be on board, about 80 people. If you consider this type of ship, then there could be outsiders on it. There’s no way there were no victims there.”

Background: 

• Explosions rocked Feodosiia in occupied Crimea at around 03:00 on 26 December. It was reported that a vessel supposedly carrying Iranian-made ammunition had been blown up, and a fire broke out in the port.
• Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Air Force, confirmed that Ukrainian defenders had blown up the large Russian landing ship Novocherkassk in occupied Feodosiia.
• It was revealed later that the Novocherkassk had been destroyed by cruise missiles launched from tactical aircraft belonging to the Ukrainian Air Force.
• The Russian Ministry of Defence reported that the Novocherkassk had been damaged in Feodosiia that night “while repelling an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces using air-launched guided missiles”.
• According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, “during the anti-aircraft battle, two Ukrainian Su-24 fighters that were launching missiles were destroyed by air defence systems.” The Ukrainian Air Force denied this.

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