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Ukrainian Losses and Successes
A similar case of confirming previously
undocumented losses from the previous
period has also occurred on the Ukrainian side.
On Friday, December 8, footage of an Mi-8
helicopter wreckage was released, which had
crashed into a house, likely in the Kherson
region. When and under what circumstances
this happened is unknown. The fate of the crew
is also unclear. A confirmed loss during this
period on the Ukrainian side occurred on Friday,
December 22. After the alarm was raised due to
approaching Shahid drones, a Su-27 fighter took
off from the Ozerne base in the Zhytomyr region.
It was piloted by Major Stanislav Romanenko from
the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade. A few minutes
after takeoff, the aircraft crashed near the airport,
and the pilot died. The cause of the plane crash is
not yet known. Romanenko was already retired,
but after the Russian attack in February 2022,
he again assumed an active duty as a pilot with
the Ukrainian Air Force.
In addition to shooting down the aircraft,
Ukrainians also claimed another significant
success in attacks on surface targets. In the
port of Feodosia in occupied Crimea, on Tuesday,
December 26, a landing ship of the Ropucha class
was destroyed. Before the war, the Russians
concentrated thirteen landing ships in the Black
Sea. However, the expected amphibious operation
against Odessa never took place, and these
vessels serve only to transport supplies for the
frontline units. Ukrainians gradually managed
to destroy Saratov and Minsk ships and damage
the Olenegorsky Gornyak. Novocherkassk is now
the fourth decommissioned landing ship of the
Russian fleet.
Its demise was captured in several videos. The
ship was hit by Storm Shadow missiles, caught
fire, and then suffered a massive explosion. The
cargo being carried, which probably consisted
of artillery shells and rocket launcher missiles,
exploded. However, initial reports mentioned
a shipment of Iranian drones. The ship's fragments
were scattered within a radius of 700 meters, and
residents of Feodosia found debris in their yards
and on the streets for several days after the
incident. The explosion also caused the sinking
of the old training ship UTS-150, converted from
a former T43-class minesweeper from the 1950s.
It was anchored opposite the landing ship on the
other side of the port basin.
The wreckage of Novocherkassk sank to
the bottom of the harbor, with only the burned
remnants of the bridge, chimney, and broken mast
remaining above water. Some Russian sources
admitted that 33 sailors were missing after the
attack. The Ukrainian side reports that about 70
Russians died on the ship. What followed the
sinking of Novocherkassk vividly illustrates the
work of Russian propaganda, aiming to inundate
the information space with a multitude of versions
that not only contradict available evidence but
often contradict each
other. Do not look for logic
in this; Russia is merely
trying to marginalize and
doubt the truth in this
way.
In the case of
Novocherkassk, for
example, the Russians
took advantage of the
fact that higher-quality
footage was not available
shortly after the attack.
The wreckage of the ship
was not clearly visible at
the pier, and the buildings
and cranes on the pier
appeared untouched. Therefore, claims emerged
that Ukrainians did not sink any ship in Feodosia,
and the video of its explosion is fake. However,
further images quickly revealed that even the
concrete pier was seriously damaged, and it likely
diverted the explosion's energy away from the
buildings and cranes. The shipwreck was also
clearly visible in subsequent satellite images.
Afterward, the Russians tried to downplay the
loss of the ship by claiming that it was already
decommissioned and unused. However, the
Suchonimus channel on YouTube, based on recent
satellite images, demonstrated that although
Novocherkassk regularly anchored in the same
place, there were days when it was absent from
the harbor. Obviously, it was lifted to pick up
some cargo during those times. This happened,
for example, on October 18. Russians also labeled
Feodosia as a peaceful civilian port with no
American guided gliding bomb under the wing of a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter.
Fire on the Russian landing ship Novocherkassk in the port of Feodosia.
The wreck of the
Novocherkassk ship after
sinking near the pier.
Czech self-propelled machine guns MR-2 Viktor caliber 14.5 mm have been
in the Ukrainian service for a long time.
HISTORY
INFO Eduard32
February 2024