- Ukraine claims it hit another vessel in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, setting it on fire.
- The Kommuna, the oldest Russian ship in service, was hit in Crimea, a Ukrainian spokesperson said.
- The 111-year-old Kommuna has historical value, but it is also of practical use, an expert said.
Ukraine says it has struck another ship from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet – this time its oldest military vessel in active service.
Ukrainian navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk told Ukrainska Pravda that the ship was set on fire on Sunday in the port city of Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.
“The type of damage to the ship is being established, but initial reports indicate that the ship is not suitable for carrying out missions,” Pletenchuk told the newspaper. Business Insider has not independently verified this claim.
It did not specify the nature of the claimed attack, but prominent Crimea-based Telegram accounts reported an explosion and the deployment of firefighters to the port early Sunday local time.
Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Russian-appointed governor of Crimea, wrote on Telegram that the Russian military had repelled an anti-ship missile, whose falling fragments caused a small fire that was quickly extinguished.
(It is not uncommon for Ukrainian officials to say an attack was successful and Russian officials to say it failed.)
An unverified video is circulating on social networks showed smoke rising from a port.
“Another bad day for the Russian Black Sea Fleet” » wrote the Defense of Ukraine X account after the attackpublishing a 2008 image of the Kommuna with a crosshair superimposed.
If confirmed, the claimed strike against the famous ship is a continuation of Ukrainian success in the Black Sea.
The loss of a beloved ship would come as a blow to Russia’s morale shortly after the United States finally approved $61 billion in military aid – which President Volodymyr Zelensky said gives the country a chance to break the deadlock of the land war.
First launched in 1913, the Kommuna is steeped in Russian naval history, having served in several 20th-century conflicts, according to KHCF, a Russian site devoted to tracking the Black Sea Fleet.
Open source naval expert HI Sutton, noting its antique status, said the Kommuna “receives some sympathy because it is an old and magnificent ship”. But, he added, “objectively, it constitutes a legitimate target and provides the Russian navy with valuable capabilities.”
“It often participates in submarine tests and can conduct submarine warfare,” he added.
According to Sutton, the Kommuna was deployed in 2022 for the sinking of the flagship Moskva, Ukraine’s most resounding victory against the Black Sea Fleet.
Much of the fleet was transferred to the port of Novorossiysk last fall after Ukraine shelled the port of Sevastopol. In late March – after Ukraine claimed attacks on two large landing ships – British Defense Minister Grant Shapps said the fleet had been rendered “functionally inactive”.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
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