Ukraine hits Russian warship after 15-missile salvo on Crimea shipyard

telegraph.co.uk:  Ukraine fired 15 cruise missiles at a Russian shipyard in occupied Crimea, hitting a warship in an attack that could further undermine Moscow’s offensive capabilities.

French-supplied SCALP missiles struck the Russian vessel stationed at the Zalyv dockyard in the port city of Kerch on Saturday, Lt Gen Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukraine’s air force said.

The warship was armed with Kalibr cruise missiles that have frequently been used by Russia to strike targets inside Ukraine, he added.

“I confirm,” Gen Oleshchuk said on Sunday morning after posting a message the evening before which said the Ukrainian attack had probably hit its target.

Ukrainian media named the Russian warship as the Askold, a small Karakurt-class warship that is armed with eight Kalibr missiles. The Askold was reportedly going through its final fittings at the harbour before being commissioned into the Black Sea Fleet.

Satellite photos showed a Russian warship in the Zalyv dockyard during the missile strike and Russia’s Ministry of Defence confirmed one of its warships had been hit.

The ministry said late on Saturday that air defences had shot down 13 of the 15 missiles fired by Ukrainian forces, but others struck the shipyard.

It did not provide details about the ship or the extent of the damage.

SCALP missiles are the French equivalent of British Storm Shadow missiles which Ukraine has used to strike Russian command centres in occupied Ukraine and Russia’s Black Sea Fleet based at Sevastopol, in annexed Crimea.

Ukraine has frequently attacked Russia’s navy in the Black Sea over the past year, forcing the Kremlin to withdraw its warships from Sevastopol to the port of Novorossyk, further along the coast.

Moscow has also announced plans to build a new naval base for its fleet in Abkhazia, a rebel part of Georgia which is 350 miles away

But attempts to push Russia’s forces back on land have proved less successful, with Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the head of Ukraine’s armed Fforces, stating the war has effectively ground to a stalemate despite Kyiv’s counter-offensive efforts.

Ukraine’s military on Sunday said a Russian missile strike close to the war’s southern frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region had killed at least 20 soldiers as they stood on parade for a medal ceremony.

The troops were from the 128th mountain assault brigade, which recruits heavily from the western Transcarpathian region.

Three days of mourning

Viktor Mykyta, the region’s governor, declared three days of mourning following Friday’s attack.

“I ask all fellow countrymen, communities, entrepreneurs in public catering establishments to refrain from any entertainment events, concerts,” he said.

Ukraine’s ministry of defence has ordered an investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, in the east, Russia appeared to be throwing soldiers into battle around Avdiivka, near Bakhmut, the British Ministry of Defence said.

The battle for the town, in the Donbas region, has become one of the deadliest of the war  with both sides reportedly suffering thousands of casualties over the past month.

Avdiivka, about 16 miles from the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, is surrounded by Russian-held territory to the north, east and south.

The town, once home to 30,000 people, has been on the front line of the war since Russia’s initial Donbas invasion in 2014.