Russian Warship Explodes in Missile Strike Video, Ukraine Says

Ukraine destroyed a Russian warship at a Crimea base, just hours after Christmas Day, Kyiv's military leaders have said.

Mykola Oleschuk, who heads Ukraine's air force, shared a video on Telegram purported to be the Novocherkassk warship exploding, writing that "the fleet in Russia is getting smaller and smaller!" The clip could not immediately be verified.

In a post on Telegram, Oleshchuk wrote that the Novocherkassk was "following the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation—the cruiser Moskva." The Moskva, a guided-missile cruiser, sank in April 2022 after being struck by Ukrainian missiles.

The large tank landing ship, was carrying Iran-made Shaheds drones, Ukraine's air force said on Telegram, before the ship was "destroyed."

While the attack and the destruction of the Russian navy ship could not be independently verified, videos shared on social media appear to show a large explosion in the Feodosia port on the Crimean peninsula. Footage shows a large, fiery explosion over what has been identified as the port town of Feodosia.

In an interview with the U.S. government-funded Radio Liberty, reported by online Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda, air force spokesman Yuri Ignat said they had to launch "obviously more than one missile" on the Novocherkassk because "the enemy can shoot down cruise missiles."

Ignat added that the size of the explosion on the ship suggests that it was not "an explosion of something insignificant," but was "the detonation of ammunition, since a large landing ship is used to transport equipment, weapons and personnel."

Russia's Ministry of Defense confirmed the December 26 attack. But Moscow officials said the ship was "damaged," not destroyed, Russian state news agency Interfax reports.

The Moscow-appointed head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, wrote on Telegram that there had been "an enemy attack in [the] Feodosia area," adding that "detonation" had stopped and the fire had been localized.

One person was killed in the overnight attack and two others were injured, according to Aksyonov. He added that he kept the situation under his personal control, encouraging people to stay calm.

The Russian official did not mention the Novocherkassk. It is unknown how many people were on board the vessel, which according to the U.S. military has a crew capacity of 237 troops, but carries around 87, as reported by CNN.

If confirmed, the destruction of the Russian ship would be the third major loss of Moscow's military hardware in less than a week, as reported by the Ukrainian armed forces.

On Monday, Christmas Day, the Ukrainian military said it had shot down five Russian fighter jets in three days, though the claim could not be independently verified. On Friday, Ukraine said it had destroyed three Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers, while on Sunday it said it had downed two Su-30SM fighter jets over the Black Sea.

On Monday, Russia was said to have seized full control of the eastern Ukrainian town of Marinka—another claim which could not be independently verified, but which, if confirmed, could undermine Ukraine's claimed military victories.

Newsweek contacted Ukraine's Defense Ministry and Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email on Tuesday.

Update 12/26/23 4:30 a.m. ET: This breaking news story was updated to include more details on the claimed attack and more background information.

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