How Russians used their rescue ship Kommuna — Ukrainian Navy
Russians used their Black Sea Fleet's rescue ship Kommuna, struck by the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) on April 21, in various operations, including the retrieval of vital components at the location where the Russian cruiser Moskva sank, Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk said in an interview with Radio Svoboda on April 22.
Pletenchuk highlighted the ship's unique capability to conduct deep-sea operations and raise significant heavy elements that have submerged. The vessel has been involved in servicing submarines.
"This particular vessel was selected from the entire auxiliary fleet, underscoring its uniqueness despite its considerable age," Pletenchuk said regarding the decision to deploy the Kommuna ship for retrieving elements at the sinking site of the Moskva cruiser.
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The Kommuna ship was in Sevastopol Bay at the time of the attack, as the Russians "hide" combat units behind auxiliary fleet vessels to mitigate the threat of attacks by the AFU.
"They are intensifying measures to secure the bays against external attacks," Pletenchuk said.
"This bay is patrolled by the well-known small missile ship Cyclone, equipped with cruise missiles, though they have not been utilized yet. The Pantsir-S air defense system is also installed onboard."
The AFU carried out the operation to strike the rescue ship, he said. However, the military cannot disclose the technical specifics of the operation, Pletenchuk said.
Regarding the condition of the ship's crew, there is no confirmed information available.
"Considering that it was a Sunday, personnel may have been onshore," Pletenchuk said.
"But these are just my assumptions."
Strike on Russian rescue ship Kommuna
Crimean media outlets reported explosions in Sevastopol on the morning of April 21, coinciding with a missile threat alert across Crimea.
The Russian-appointed "governor of Sevastopol," Mikhail Razvozhayev, claimed that the Russian military had "repelled an anti-ship missile attack on one of the ships on the northern side of Sevastopol Bay."
Video with smoke and fire among the ships, allegedly filmed in Sevastopol Bay after an explosion in the city, was shared on social media on April 21. The person narrating the video claimed, "the missile smashed the ship."
Pletenchuk later confirmed the strike on the rescue ship Kommuna in Sevastopol.
The extent of the ship's damage is being clarified, "but according to preliminary information, the ship is no longer capable of performing its tasks," he said in a comment to NV’s sister publication Ukrainska Pravda.
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