Ukraine's dramatic strikes on Crimea appear to have hit a submarine and a landing craft, setting them ablaze

Thibault Spirlet
Updated ·2 min read
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  • Ukraine seems to have hit a submarine and a landing craft in their attack on Crimea, per OSINT.

  • The open-source intelligence shared photographic evidence of the Sevastopol's shipyard on fire.

  • Russian officials have accused Ukraine of carrying out the attack.

Ukrainian forces made a major strike on a Russian base in occupied Crimea in the early hours of Wednesday.

Footage and photos from the blast suggest they struck two major targets — a Russian submarine and a landing vehicle.

The blast was in the Crimean city of Sevastopol on Wednesday, Russian officials confirmed. A statement from Russia's defense ministry said two ships were damaged while undergoing repairs, but didn't say which ones.

Analysis of the images circulating on social media suggest the blasts hit a dry dock containing the submarine and landing craft.

The prominent account OSINTtechnical wrote it "appears that Ukrainian forces have successfully hit the Sevastopol Shipyard drydocks this morning, likely occupied by a Russian Kilo-class sub and Ropucha landing ship."

It posted an image of the flaming blast site, along with an aerial image of the dry docks, cross-referencing points to suggest that was indeed the location hit.

OSINTtechnical cited a post by another analyst, who shared photos from late August showing a Kilo-class submarine and a Ropcuha-class landing vessel in the dry dock. Imagery from September 12 appeared to show them still there.

 

The Russian statement said the attack was made with a mixture of cruise missiles and waterborne drones: 10 cruise missiles and three drones, by its count. It said some of them were intercepted.

An unnamed source in Ukrainian military intelligence told the Kyiv Post that Ukraine's armed forces were responsible.

"There is information about at least the destruction of a large landing ship and a submarine," the source said, per the Kyiv Post.

The Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Mykola Oleshchuk, said on Telegram that the strike had taken place, but gave few details.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, governor of Crimea's largest city, said on Telegram on Wednesday that the strike injured 24 people but didn't damage civilian infrastructure.

The Sevastopol shipyard is crucial to the construction and maintenance of Russian Black Sea Fleet warships. Despite Russia's naval power dwarfing Ukraine's, the Russian navy has struggled to counter Ukraine's exploding sea drones.

Read the original article on Business Insider