Russian Black Sea Fleet's Losses Since Ukraine War Began: Full List

The Russian Black Sea Fleet's losses are mounting amid continued Ukrainian cruise missile and drone attacks, with the newly constructed corvette, Askold, reportedly the latest victim of Kyiv's asymmetric campaign to neutralize Moscow's wounded regional force.

The extent of the damage done to the Askold in last weekend's cruise missile strike is not yet clear, though videos, images and satellite pictures taken at the Zaliv shipyard in Kerch in occupied Crimea suggest it is extensive.

The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet offered any details on the strike, and Newsweek has contacted the ministry by email to request comment. On Monday, Ukraine's Office of Strategic Communications reported that the Askold "suffered significant damage and may not be repaired."

The Kalibr cruise missile-armed corvette is at least the 17th Russian vessel to be hit by Ukraine since Moscow began its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Not all of Ukraine's littoral victims have technically been part of the Black Sea Fleet, but all have been in its operational area and cooperating with the fleet.

Ukrainian drones and missiles have also targeted a wide range of fleet infrastructure, including command posts, defensive positions and even the Black Sea Fleet headquarters building in the port city of Sevastopol.

Kyiv is undertaking a strategic effort to neuter the Black Sea Fleet, Ukrainian sources have said. Andriy Zagorodnyuk, Ukraine's former defense minister and now an adviser to the Defense Ministry, told Newsweek that the force's destruction is a necessity for Kyiv.

"Their goal is basically to suffocate us economically," Zagorodnyuk said. "The only way to get out of this situation is to destroy the Black Sea Fleet, to destroy their capability to pursue the occupation of the Black Sea and restore freedom of navigation.

"The only thing we can do is destroy the Black Sea Fleet and say that any new ship in the area will follow the previous ones," Zagorodnyuk—who is now the chairman of the Centre for Defence Strategies think tank in Kyiv—added. "There's no other option. And we should pursue that option until it's done."

The recent attack on the Askold, Andriy Ryzhenko—a retired Ukrainian naval captain and now a strategic expert at the defense and logistics consultant company Sonata—told Newsweek, represents "a significant achievement of the Ukrainian armed forces in order to mitigate the Russian missile potential, particularly before winter."

Ukrainian success at sea—despite Kyiv's lack of any meaningful conventional naval forces—came from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion, with multiple Raptor-class patrol boats destroyed or damaged in March 2022, as Russian and Ukrainian forces clashed along Ukraine's southern coastline and around the strategic Snake Island outcrop in the Black Sea.

In the same month, the Tapir-class landing ship Saratov was destroyed while in port in the occupied city of Berdiansk; a significant loss for the fleet that hampered its efforts to expand control of occupied southern Ukraine.

Even more striking—and arguably the most consequential Russian naval loss to date—was the sinking of the Black Sea Fleet flagship in April 2022. The guided missile cruiser Moskva was immobilized and set aflame by two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles, later sinking.

Ukraine has since maintained a steady tempo of naval operations, among them several failed attacks against Russian ships including the frigate Admiral Makarov, which after the Moskva's loss became the Black Sea Fleet's new flagship.

Among the most high-profile losses since then is the Kilo-class submarine Rostov-on-Don, damaged beyond repair by Ukrainian cruise missiles in September while in a dry dock in Sevastopol. The Ropucha-class landing ship Minsk was destroyed in the same attack.

Below is a full list of the Russian naval vessels damaged or destroyed by Ukrainian action since February 2022, as collated by the Oryx open-source intelligence outlet and augmented with other reported losses.

• Moskva Slava-class guided missile cruiser (sunk)
• Rostov-on-Don Kilo-class submarine (damaged beyond economical repair)
• 5 Raptor-class patrol boats (3 destroyed, 2, damaged)
• 1 Project 02510 BK-16E high-speed assault boat (destroyed)
• 1 Project 640 small patrol boat (destroyed)
• Saratov Tapir-class landing ship (destroyed)
• 3 Ropucha-class landing ships (Minsk damaged beyond economical repair, Olenegorsky Gornyak and another damaged)
• 1 Serna-class landing craft (destroyed)
• Vasily Bekh Project 22870 rescue tug (destroyed)
• 1 Project 266M Natya-class minesweeper (damaged)
• Askold cruise missile carrier corvette (damaged)

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