According to the Ukrainian Navy’s own data, five Russian longships have been destroyed since the beginning of the long-range invasion. This reports the German news website n-tv.de.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy announced this information in a statement on Ukrainian television. According to a report by the Kyiv Independent, in March 2022, the Ukrainian attack on the occupied port of Berdyansk destroyed the Saratov landing ship and damaged the Novocherkassk and Cesar Kunikov boats. Another landing ship, the Olenegorskiy Gornyak, suffered heavy water damage from a drone strike on August 4 while docked at the Novorossiysk naval base. The Navy spokesman did not comment on the situation of the fifth landing craft.
This information comes from a party to the conflict and has not yet been independently verified and/or confirmed. For this reason, they are to be evaluated with reservations. Under certain circumstances, it can be advantageous for warring parties to make false statements about the course of the conflict in order to strengthen their own position or to weaken that of their opponents.
Image: kremlin.ru, Совещание по развитию дальневосточных городов (2023-03-14) 02, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image size modified)