Ukraine’s armed forces said they hit marine and port infrastructure at a shipyard in the port city of Kerch in Russian-occupied Crimea on Saturday, in an attack confirmed by the Russian defense ministry.
“The evening of Nov. 4 Armed Forces of Ukraine implemented successful strikes on marine and port infrastructure of the ‘Zalyv’ factory in the temporarily-occupied city of Kerch,” the Department for Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a Telegram post, giving no further details.
“I hope another ship has followed the Moskva!” Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of Ukraine’s air force, said in a Telegram post, referring to the Russian Black Sea Fleet flagship sunk by Ukrainian missiles on April 14, 2022.
Oleshchuk said cruise missiles struck the infrastructure at Zalyv — which is now named B.E. Butoma — “where one of the most modern Russian Navy ships was stationed, a Kalibr cruise missile carrier.” He said he was “awaiting official confirmation of the results.”
In a statement carried by Russian news agencies, Russia's defense ministry said the Ukrainian attack involving 15 cruise missiles damaged one ship. Air defense systems destroyed 13 of the Ukraine-launched missiles, said the statement.
Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed head of Crimea, said downed missile fragments had hit a dry dock and that there were no casualties. He also said air defense systems had been in action around a Kerch shipyard named after B.E. Butoma.
Military analyst and journalist Andriy Tsaplienko said in a Telegram post that one of Russia’s most modern ships, a small cruise missile carrier launched in 2021, the Askold, was damaged in the attack, according to what he described as preliminary information.
