Satellite images of damaged Russian ship in Kerch emerge

Schemes, a project of investigative journalism and analytics of the Ukrainian edition of Radio Liberty

Planet Labs’ images dated 5 November reveal the site of the damage at the plant in Kerch and a Russian military vessel that also appears damaged.

Source: Andrii Ryzhenko, Captain 1st Class, Ukraine’s Navy Reserve, in a comment to Schemes

Quote from Ryzhenko: “I have information that there was only one vessel in Kerch at the time of the explosions, capable of carrying Kalibr class missiles, namely the Askold, on 4 November.

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I think that this warship, as we can see, was already at the berth and was being refurbished since it was supposed to be put into operation in December. You can see that it’s still afloat, but the ship’s top is noticeably damaged.”

Details: The official added that the Askold is a 22800 Karakurt-type small missile ship capable of carrying up to 8 Kalibr missiles. Destroying such a vessel, Ryzhenko said, is essential for Ukraine’s security.

Background: 

• On 4 November, explosions occurred in Russian-occupied Crimea, and an air-raid warning had been issued.
• Mykola Oleshchuk, the Commander of Ukraine’s Air Force, later said that Ukrainian pilots had carried out airstrikes on the infrastructure of the Zalyv shipyard in the city of Kerch. At that time, there was no certainty whether the warship had been destroyed.
• Following the explosions, the Russians claimed that “some of the wreckage of the downed missiles crashed into the territory of one of the dry docks”.
• It was only late on the evening of 4 November that the Russian Defence Ministry admitted that a warship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, docked at a shipyard in Kerch, had been “damaged”.
• On the morning of 5 November, Oleshchuk confirmed that the Ukrainian forces had sunk one of the most modern ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, a Kalibr cruise missile carrier.

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