Vice Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, Commander of the Ukrainian Navy, said that in almost two years of war, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has lost three large landing ships, several landing boats, and the ability of the Russian armed forces to land has been halved, UNN reports with reference to the Voice of America.
Vice Admiral Neizhpapa said that amphibious assault ships, as well as Kalibr missile carriers, which Russia uses to fire at Ukrainian territory, are one of the priority targets for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
"As a result of the destruction of landing ships by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Black Sea Fleet's amphibious landing capability has been reduced to a battalion. That is, they used to be able to land two battalions at the same time, but now they can only land one," explained Vice Admiral Neizhpapa in a conversation with VOA Eastern Europe Broadcasting Director Miroslava Gongadze.
A missile strike by the Ukrainian Air Force on the night of December 26 destroyed the Russian large amphibious assault ship Novocherkassk, which was based in the port of Feodosia in the temporarily occupied Crimea.
This was the second attack on the Novocherkassk during the Russian-Ukrainian war. The first hit by Ukrainian missiles on this ship took place in March 2022 in the port of Berdiansk, where it had brought military equipment. At least three crew members of the Novocherkassk were reportedly killed.
According to Vice Admiral Neizhpapa, due to the actions of the Ukrainian military over the past year, the Russian Navy has withdrawn all of its Kalibr missile carriers to Novorossiysk.
The Russian Navy has brought all its Kalibr missile carriers to Novorossiysk. This happened during this year. They also withdrew landing craft and patrol ships during the year, concentrating them in Feodosia and Novorossiysk.
According to the commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Russia is now using landing ships as military transport to transport military cargo between the territory of the Russian Federation and the occupied Crimea.
Commenting on media reports that the ship was carrying Shahed drones, which Russia uses to strike Ukraine, Vice Admiral Neizhpapa said he could "neither confirm nor deny" these reports, but did not rule out the possibility.
"I do not have complete information, but I do not exclude that they could have loaded (Iranian drones) on the ship, judging by the detonation, which was very voluminous," said Vice Admiral Neizhpapa. "I cannot confirm what exactly was there, but this ship is completely destroyed. There is no point in restoring it."
He added that "for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, any ship flying the flag of the Russian Federation is a military target."
"They will all be destroyed or defeated as soon as we can reach them," Vice Admiral Neijpapa told VOA.
Recall
The greatest success of Ukrainian actions against the Russian Black Sea Fleet was the sinking of the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. The cruiser was sunk shortly after the outbreak of war in April 2022.
On September 22 this year, Ukraine launched a missile attack on the naval headquarters in Sevastopol and repair facilities in this port city.
According to Ukrainian authorities, since the large-scale Russian invasion, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have destroyed 20% of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.