According to British intelligence, during the full-scale war with Ukraine, Russia lost three large landing ships in the Black Sea. The aggressor country has ten more left.
Russia continues to lose large landing ships
The Ministry of Defense of Great Britain draws attention to the fact that on the night of December 26, Ukrainian aviation managed to destroy the "Toad"-class landing ship of the Russian Navy "Novocherkask".
It is essential to understand that it became the third large landing ship of the Russian Federation, which was managed to be eliminated during the full-scale war.
Also, recently, there was information about explosive cargo on the ship. That is why a powerful secondary detonation took place after the Ukrainian missiles hit.
The incident takes the number of LSTs Russia has lost since the invasion to three: the Saratov sank on 24 March 2022, while the Minsk was functionally destroyed in dry dock on 13 September 2023. Two additional LSTs have likely been damaged, the message says.
According to foreign experts, the Russian Federation may have wanted to use its forces in large landing ships to conduct significant assault operations during the invasion, so it decided to double the number of these ships in the Black Sea in preparation for the war.
How the British MOD chief reacted to the "Novocherkassk" destruction
According to the head of the British Ministry of Defense, Grant Shapps, the destruction of another vital ship of the Black Sea Fleet "demonstrates those who believe there's a stalemate in the Ukraine war are wrong."
They haven't noticed that over the past 4 months 20% of Russia's Black Sea Fleet has been destroyed, the minister emphasised.
In addition, he emphasized that Russia's dominance in the Black Sea was under threat, and Britain also contributed to this.
