Near the early hours of the morning, the Ukrainian Air Force again launched an operation on the Feodosia pier in Crimea, firing a cruise missile called "Storm Shadow", which successfully hit a large landing ship named "Novocherkassk". The blow dealt a heavy blow to the Black Sea Fleet, which has already lost up to 8 large ships. Even if it remained in port, the fleet was not spared, and if this situation continued, its ability to support it was in jeopardy.
Oreshchuk, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, confirmed to ** the destruction of the "Novocherkassk". He said that the Russian fleet had shrunk significantly, and that the destroyed landing ship was loaded with a large amount of ammunition and Shahed-type drones from Iran, so the losses were quite heavy. The attack may have caused a lot of commotion, and the Russian side did not deny the incident, claiming only that the landing ship "Novocherkassk" was damaged during the missile attack, but managed to shoot down two Su-24 fighter-bombers.
Judging by the actions in Ukraine, they have clearly carefully planned and studied, have a fairly deep understanding of the air defense systems and electronic warfare capabilities of the Russian army, and such a blow is not accidental. At around 1 a.m., Ukrainian Su-24M fighter-bombers took off from Staraya Konstantinov and flew eastward, an area where the Russian Air Force is active, showing that their intelligence work is very good. The planes circled in the Nikolaev region for about half an hour, and then launched ** cruise missiles, which, although detected by Russian radars, did not have time for Russian air defense systems to stop the missile's hit. In the end, the missile accurately hit the landing ship moored in the bay of Feodosia Lane. The reason why Ukraine was able to achieve such a precise strike was that in addition to the cruise missiles provided by the West, there may be more internal intelligence support on the ground. After all, the place where the "Novocherkassk" is moored is surrounded by residential areas, which provides a better view of Ukraine.
The destroyed landing ship "Novocherkassk" has actually been attacked several times by Ukraine, and it seems that the ship is just out of luck. Not long ago, it was hit by a tactical missile by Ukrainian forces while anchored in the port of Berdyansk, and the scene of billowing smoke in the picture became the focus of the time. Although it was not long after it was repaired last year, it was attacked again this year, this time with more damage that prevented the ship from refloating. As a large landing ship of the 775 Toad class, the "Novocherkassk" has a displacement of more than 4,000 tons, which is one of the important pillars of the relatively weak Russian Navy.
The loss of one main work**, coupled with the shooting down of two raiding Ukrainian Su-24 fighter-bombers, is undoubtedly a heavy loss for Russia. Taking into account the current state of strength of the Black Sea Fleet, it is difficult to compensate for the loss of even a thousand-ton warship, not to mention a capital landing ship with a displacement of up to 4000 tons. Although the Russian side is still reluctant to admit that the ship has been sunk, according to the scene**, the "Novocherkassk" has sunk, and only a small amount of wreckage is left floating on the water. Whether it can be salvaged and repaired for reuse is not a primary issue at the moment, as the Black Sea Fleet is now facing an almost unbridgeable shortage of resources.
Originally, the Black Sea Fleet was tasked with a series of important tasks, such as blocking Ukraine's sea lanes, providing support for landing operations, and performing air defense and other tasks. No one could have predicted that Ukraine, which had an absolute advantage in naval strength, would be able to have such a powerful counterattack. They destroyed the Russian flagship cruiser Moskva in the first round of the conflict, and then sank or damaged eight capital warships one after another, forcing the Black Sea Fleet to retreat. However, the current situation shows that even the rear cannot ensure security, because Ukraine already has a well-developed long-range precision strike capability.
Taking this attack as an example, the price paid by Ukraine for sinking the large landing ship "Novocherkassk" was that two Su-24s involved in the attack were shot down, and at the same time the Russian army carried out a strike on the Novokonstantinov airfield from which the Su-24 was launched. However, for Ukraine, attacks by the Russian army have become the norm and do not have a great impact on it. In contrast, if the Black Sea Fleet continues to be passively attacked, it is afraid that it will be completely wiped out in the port berths. In the future, with F-16 fighters about to join the Ukrainian army and be armed with American-made Harpoon anti-ship missiles, the Black Sea Fleet may face an even more terrible end.