Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a Facebook post Thursday (EST) that the Saratov Russian standing ship was destroyed “during the attack on the occupied Berdyansk port.”
Previously, the Ukrainian military had identified the ship as the Orsk, according to The Washington Post. In its clarification the armed forces said large standing ships named Caesar Kunikov and Novocherkassk were also damaged in the Azov operational zone.
According to The New York Times, Russian television network Zvezda – run by the country’s defense ministry – Monday published a video report from there that showed a Russian landing ship offloading armored vehicles.
Berdyansk has been occupied by Russian Federation troops since late February, shortly after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. It is located in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast in southeast Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, around 45 miles from Mariupol.
While Russians have taken Berdyansk, they have not been able to take Mariupol as of Friday. Russia, however, has fired on Mariupol from the Sea of Azov, according to a senior U.S. defense official cited by CNN. The official said Russia used a group of approximately seven ships to launch attacks on the critical coastal city.
The U.S. defense official said Ukraine likely did conduct a successful attack against Russian ships. An alleged video of the Saratov explosion has been shared on social media.
“Analysis of videos uploaded on Thursday showed that one Russian naval vessel left the port soon after the explosions,” CNN added.
So far, the Russian Ministry of Defense has made no official comment about the explosion.
“Other losses of the enemy are being clarified,” said the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
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