TheMalcontent

Russia-Ukraine Flash Report 25DEC23 21:10 PST - Another Black Sea Fleet Ship Destroyed

Added 2023-12-26 05:02:44 +0000 UTC

At 02:50 hours local time on December 26, the Ukrainian Air Force attacked the port in occupied Fedosia, Crimea. The air raid lasted about 30 minutes, with a Ropucha-class large landing ship, believed to be the Novocherkassk, taking a direct hit. The ship burned for a short period of time before a catastrophic ammunition explosion rocked the port. The video clearly shows rockets cooking off in the main blast. Windows are reportedly broken up to 30 minutes away. Ammunition was cooking off 30 minutes later. In our assessment, due to the size of the blast and the rockets cooking off, there is a high probability of significant damage to the temporary port in Fedosia.

We reported in a SITREP last week that the Black Sea Fleet had ended most operations from Sevastopol. Ropucha-class LLS are becoming an endangered species - not just in the Black Sea, but within the Russian Navy.

We don't know what weapon system was used to attack the port, only that the General Staff credited the strike to the Ukrainian Air Force. Russia has been consistent for 22 months and will likely respond with a strike against Ukrainian civilians in the next 24 to 72 hours.

In other news, Russia lost another Su-34 and a Su-30 on Christmas Eve, and the number of UMPK glide bomb strikes is down significantly.