Dmytro Pletenchuk, the spokesperson for the Naval Forces of Ukraine, commented to RBC-Ukraine that since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukraine has managed to destroy four large landing ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, leaving the occupiers with five amphibious assault ships in operation.
"Speaking of large landing ships, 5 units remain out of 13 that were in service at the beginning of the full-scale invasion," Pletenchuk said.
According to him, four of these have been destroyed, and another four, including the Azov and Yamal, are undergoing repairs.
"The Yamal had already completed repairs and was about to undergo trials but got damaged and is now back in repairs. The Azov got damaged and remains under repair. Now, we can also add the Konstantin Olshansky here. So, in total, there were 14. Five remain in operation as of now. And five are essentially undergoing repairs along with the Konstantin Olshansky," Pletenchuk explained.
As for the rest of the ships, a total of 15 damaged vessels are being repaired in Crimea by the Russians. According to the Navy spokesperson, it can be said that a third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's ship inventory is either out of order or destroyed.
"Unfortunately, regarding qualitative indicators, the most dangerous weapon systems that remain operational are the carriers of Kalibr cruise missiles. Among them are both submarines and surface ships," Pletenchuk noted.
He reminded that Ukraine has destroyed two such ships: the submarine Rostov-on-Don and the small missile ship Askold.
"So, in principle, there are about a dozen of them on average. Because this figure varies depending on combat readiness and remaining operational. However, they have logistical problems. And as you can see, they have not been used for a long time," Pletenchuk summed up.
Damage to large landing ship Konstantin Olshansky
The Armed Forces of Ukraine struck the ship Konstantin Olshansky with an anti-ship cruise missile Neptune. This was officially confirmed by the spokesperson of the Ukrainian Navy, Dmitro Pletenchuk. As he clarified in a comment to RBC-Ukraine, this happened late in the evening on March 23.
According to him, the Russians looted this large landing ship for nine years, removing equipment and using it to repair their own ships for this project because it was not possible to order equipment from Poland through Russian dummy agencies. However, in the 10th year of the war, the occupiers realized it was easier to restore than their damaged large landing ships. And accordingly, the Konstantin Olshansky was under repair for the last year.
After the Ukrainian military obtained this information, it decided to destroy the Konstantin Olshansky. The large landing ship sustained damage after being struck by the Neptune missile.
Pletenchuk told RBC-Ukraine that the nature of the damage is currently being clarified. However, the Navy notes that this large landing ship is not combat-ready and sustained damage directly in Sevastopol Bay.
Other affected ships
As we wrote earlier, besides Konstantin Olshansky, Ukrainian forces managed to attack other large landing ships in Crimea, namely, the Yamal and the Azov.
The Navy also confirmed the strike on the Russian medium reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs.