The Ukrainian Armed Forces likely damaged the Russian reconnaissance ship “Ivan Khurs”

This was reported by the spokesperson of the Ukrainian Navy, Dmytro Pletenchuk, on Radio Free Europe.

“The question of damage to the ‘Ivan Khurs’ is also currently being investigated. This information is also being verified. As for the nature of the damage, we need to wait until this information is collected. There is suspicion that it likely sustained damage as well, and only after gathering information from various sources and verifying it, we can operate with it as a fact”, emphasized Pletenchuk.

Additionally, on March 25, the Ukrainian Navy confirmed, following the Ukrainian General Staff, the damage to the large landing ships “Azov” and “Yamal” due to the attack on military facilities in Sevastopol on the evening of March 23. One of them immediately went for repairs. These ships were used to address logistical issues for Russian military operations.

According to Pletenchuk, out of 13 ships at the start of the full-scale invasion, only three remain in service now.

The “Ivan Khurs” is a Russian medium reconnaissance ship for the near, far maritime, and oceanic zones. It provides communication and fleet management, conducts radio reconnaissance and electronic warfare, and monitors components of the American missile defense system.

What is known about the explosions in Sevastopol on March 23

On March 23, in temporarily occupied Crimea, successful strikes were made on objects of the Black Sea Fleet of the aggressor state Russia in Sevastopol. And now, in the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, details of the damage to the large landing ship “Yamal” have been revealed. In particular, the 13th ship repair plant, where, among other things, this large landing ship was moored, was attacked.

According to military intelligence of Ukraine, the nature of the damage to the “Yamal” is critical: there is a hole in the upper deck that caused a tilt to the right side. Consequently, the occupiers continuously pump water from the affected ship, which participated in the annexation of Crimea.

The “Yamal” was built in 1987 and later became part of the Black Sea Fleet. From 2017 to 2023, it was under repair at the ship repair plant in Kilen-bucht in Sevastopol. From June 2023, it was on the balance of the 197th brigade of landing ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Mostly it was used for training and combat training of Russian marines. After the ship was damaged in the 197th brigade of landing ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, located in the occupied Sevastopol, according to Apostrophe, only two ships remained – both landing ships – “Orsk” and “Mykola Filchenkov.”

Out of the 13 large landing ships that were in the Russian Black Sea Fleet at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, only five remain today. If the LSTs “Yamal” and “Azov,” damaged in Sevastopol, suffer serious damage and are “subtracted,” then there will be only three left. This was stated by the spokesperson of the Ukrainian Navy, Dmytro Pletenchuk. According to him, there is currently no accurate data on the damage to these ships, and verification is ongoing. If they turn out to be serious, it will be a significant loss for the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Photo: open sources