Claiming victory in the struggle to protect its remaining territory, Ukraine just said that it sank another Russian warship in the Black Sea. Even though no one from the Kremlin has officially verified the news, some Russian blogs have stated that the ship was hit.
Information regarding the attack is still limited, and the footage that Ukraine has made available is blurry and seems to have been heavily altered. The shaky camera can’t seem to get the ship in focus, and the film appears to originate from another boat out at sea. After what seems like an explosion, the movie changes to photos that don’t clearly show what happened to the ship.
According to BBC News, the Caesar Kunikov was reportedly sunk in Ukrainian territorial waters after suffering major damage to its port side, according to Ukraine’s primary intelligence directorate. It elaborates by saying that the ship went down near the Crimean village of Alupka and that most of the crew perished in the attack. Military bloggers rejected the reports of casualties, stating that the people aboard had survived. Additionally, they did not confirm that the ship went down because of the attack. According to BBC News, locals in Russia depend on well-known bloggers for their wartime news because government officials tend to keep bad press to themselves.
Ukrainian authorities claim they have sunk a second Russian warship in the span of a few weeks with this one. Assuming the latest information is true, the assault on the Caesar Kunikov would be the 25th warship neutralized by Ukraine since the war started. According to reports, almost 33% of Russia’s Black Sea naval force has been crippled by Ukraine, including the 74 combat boats that Kyiv has allegedly destroyed.
Caesar Kunikov was supposedly lost at sea 81 years before the death of the Soviet WWII hero who was named after him on February 14, 1943.
