The Russian ship that was damaged in a Ukrainian strike on a shipyard in Russian-occupied Crimea on Nov. 4 was "brand new," Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said on air on Nov. 6.
The Askold "has not even been taken into the fleet yet," Pletenchuk said, explaining that it was a newly-built ship of the Karakurt series of corvettes and equipped with an air defense system that used surface-to-air missiles, according to Pletenchuk.
Russian state news agency TASS reported that the ship was first floated in Kerch in September 2021.
The ship will be unable to go "on combat duty in the near future," Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson of Ukraine's Southern Operational Command, said on air on Nov. 6.
The ship was designed to carry Kalibr missiles, which are frequently used to attack Ukraine.
The damage the ship sustained from the strike has not yet been fully assessed, but "the blow was powerful," according to Humeniuk.
Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk announced on Nov. 4 that Ukrainian forces targeted a Russian ship in a strike on Russian-occupied Crimea but did not specify its name.
The Ukrainian Navy said on Nov. 5 that the strike damaged the Askold.
The Russian Defense Ministry later claimed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a strike using 15 cruise missiles at a shipbuilding plant in Kerch. Russian air defenses reportedly shot down thirteen cruise missiles.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
(Updated: )
