Ukraine\u2019s military has claimed it sank a Russian submarine in a port in Crimea, in what would be another major setback for Moscow in the occupied peninsula. <\/p>\n
The submarine Rostov-on-Don was hit in the port of Sevastopol on Friday, the General Staff of Ukraine\u2019s Armed Forces said in a statement Saturday. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe boat sank on the spot,\u201d the General Staff said, without providing further evidence. <\/p>\n
If confirmed, the sinking would be Ukraine\u2019s latest blow to Russia\u2019s navy, which Kyiv claims has already lost a third of its Black Sea Fleet. <\/p>\n
The alleged loss of the Rostov-on-Don \u201cproves once again that there is no safe place for the Russian fleet in Ukrainian territorial waters of the Black Sea,\u201d the General Staff said. <\/p>\n
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry hailed the attack, saying in a post on social media that \u201ca Russian submarine went to the bottom of the Black Sea\u201d after it was attacked in Sevastopol\u2019s port. \u201cAs a result of the attack, the submarine sank. Great work, warriors.\u201d <\/p>\n
Russia has occupied Crimea since its forces annexed the peninsula in 2014. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine more than two years ago, it has come under sporadic attack from Kyiv\u2019s forces. <\/p>\n
The Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said submarine defense exercises were taking place on Saturday, and \u201ceverything is calm in the city.\u201d <\/p>\n
On a post on Saturday, Russian military blogger Boris Rozhin said the ship repair plant in Sevastopol, where the submarine was docked, appears to have been hit. <\/p>\n
Commissioned in 2014, the Rostov-on-Don is a 73.8-meter (242-foot) Kilo II-class submarine and carries a crew of 52. With a submerged displacement of 3,100 tons, the diesel-electric-powered vessel can carry Kalibr cruise missiles. <\/p>\n
\u201cHitting this submarine is a big, big deal,\u201d Leighton said. <\/p>\n
Ukraine has targeted the Rostov-on-Don before. <\/p>\n
The submarine was \u201cseverely damaged\u201d in a Ukrainian missile attack in September 2023, according to Ukraine\u2019s General Staff. After that attack, open-source intelligence photos, including ones cited by Britain\u2019s defense ministry, showed what the ministry said was \u201ccatastrophic damage.\u201d <\/p>\n
But Ukraine\u2019s General Staff said the Rostov-on-Don was repaired and recently tested in the waters of Sevastopol harbor. <\/p>\n
Kyiv\u2019s forces have enjoyed sustained successes targeting Russia\u2019s Black Sea Fleet, with either missile strikes or sea drone attacks. <\/p>\n
More than 20 Russian naval vessels have now been disabled or destroyed, a third of the entire fleet. Though Ukraine has virtually no navy of its own, technological innovation, audacity and Russian incompetence have given it the upper hand in much of the Black Sea. <\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s worst naval loss of the war was the sinking of the guided-missile cruiser Moskva in April 2022. <\/p>\n
In October last year, satellite imagery indicated that Russia relocated some of its naval ships away from Sevastopol after a series of Ukrainian attacks. <\/p>\n
In addition to striking the submarine, Ukrainian forces also severely damaged four S-400 anti-aircraft missile launchers on Friday, the Ukrainian General Staff said. <\/p>\n
Leighton said destruction of the anti-aircraft batteries could help open up the skies over Crimea for Ukrainian warplanes to take on more Russian targets on the occupied peninsula. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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