Russia — Ukrainian drones attacked a Russian cargo ship moored at a southern Russian port just across from the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula, killing one and wounding four, local authorities said Tuesday.
Ukraine’s General Staff acknowledged carrying out the attack, saying “the occupiers’ ship is severely damaged in the Kavkaz port” and posting a picture of black smoke rising from a vessel on fire.
The port of Kavkaz is in the Krasnodar region, on the Kerch Strait that separates Russia from Crimea, and sits 12 kilometres (seven miles) from the Kerch Bridge that Kyiv sees as a symbol of Russia’s illegal 2014 annexation of the peninsula.
💥 Ukraine severely damaged the last functional Russian cargo ferry for railcars, 150 meter long ‘Slavyanin’ at Port Kavkaz next to the Kerch bridge which connects occupied Crimea to Russia. pic.twitter.com/TEWuM74ePG
— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) July 23, 2024
One person was killed and four were hospitalised with injuries, two of whom were in a grave condition, Krasnodar regional authorities said.
Ukraine’s General Staff said its navy in coordination with other forces “inflicted significant damage on the enemy’s cargo ship Slavyanin”.
It called the ship “the third and last railway ferry that Russia had in that area”, saying it “was used to carry military cargo”.
Slavyanin is a rail and vehicles carrier ship sailing under the Russian flag that departed from a port in Bulgaria in May, global tracking service MarineTraffic said.
Russia has lost its 3rd and final operational rail ferry in the entire Black Sea.
Ukrainian forces struck the port of Kavkaz, Russian-occupied Crimea and heavily damaged the ferry Slavyanin. The Slavyanin is the last operational rail ferry Russia has in the entire Black Sea.… pic.twitter.com/jTDYP5ZJEQ
— Intelschizo (@Schizointel) July 23, 2024
Russia “used this ship to transport railway carriages, vehicles and containers for military purposes,” Ukraine said.
Kyiv has launched multiple attacks and attempted attacks on the Kerch Bridge since Moscow began its military offensive in February 2022.
In October 2022, a car bomb exploded on the 19-kilometre bridge causing a section to collapse.
Russia has since stepped up its defences in the area and successful Ukrainian attacks are rare that far east and in such a well-protected militarised zone.
Russian authorities temporarily closed the bridge around the time of the attack on Tuesday.
Ukraine has destroyed and damaged several Russian military ships in the Black Sea since February 2022 — forcing Moscow to relocate its Black Sea naval fleet from its historic base in Sevastopol, on the southwestern edge of Crimea, to Novorossiysk, further east on the Russian mainland.
Ukrainian military report today they severely damaged the third & last rail/road ferry in the region – used to take military supplies to occupied #Crimea. Ferry hit in the port of Kavkaz.
Due to Ukraine’s past strikes on the Kerch bridge and fears about structural weakness,… pic.twitter.com/WyrybWxYwq
— Glasnost Gone (@GlasnostGone) July 23, 2024
Crimea is a key military hub and supply route for the Russian army.
Kyiv is demanding Russia depart the peninsula and return it to Ukrainian control as part of any settlement to end the conflict, now in its third year.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Source: AFP
Picture: Pixabay
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
