A Russian submarine and other major naval targets Ukraine’s destroyed in the war

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have had a lot of success destroying Russian equipment on the frontlines but one area not often discussed enough is the major impact Kyiv has had on the strength of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. 

Several attacks over the last eighteen months of the conflict have taken their toll on Russia’s naval power and the latest attacks on the shipyards in Sevastopol are just another example of Ukraine's ability to knock out the Kremlin’s expensive ships. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

Photo and video evidence shows that the Kilo-class submarine Rostov-on-Don was hit during the attack as well and one Ropucha-class large landing ship identified as the Minsk was damaged in the strike according to a report from Newsweek. 

Photo Credit: Twitter @Gerashchenko_en

This wasn’t the first time one of Russia’s all-too-important landing ships in its Black Sea Fleet were hit by Ukraine and the open-source intelligence group Oryx has noted on its website that Moscow has suffered 5 destroyed landing ships since the war began. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

Oryx has been tracking Russia and Ukrainian losses since the war began and the group only counts a piece of equipment as damaged or destroyed if they have photo or video evidence. Here’s what the group and others have gathered about Russia’s Black Sea Fleet losses. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

Russia has lost a total of 10 naval vessels destroyed and 6 damaged since the invasion began, and while that number may not seem like much in comparison to the over 2300 tanks Ukraine has destroyed on land, it’s still a very significant amount for Russia.

Naval News reported in May 2022 that one Project 11770 Serna-class landing craft was destroyed by a Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 drone near Snake Island. Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense later released a video of the encounter and the ships sinking. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

The Saratov, a Project 1171 large landing, was destroyed by Ukraine during a strike on the port of Berdyansk, a strike confirmed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed General Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi one year after it took place.

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

“A year ago, on 24 March 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a missile attack on the Russian base in the port of temporarily occupied Berdyansk,” Zaluzhnyi wrote in a Telegram post according to a translation of his comments from Urkianska Pravada. 

Zaluzhnyi added that three other ships had been damaged in the attack. These included the Orsk (a Taprir-class landing ship), the Caesar Kunikov (a Ropucha-class landing ship), and the Novocherkask (a Ropucha-class landing ship).

Pictured: Caesar Kunikov / Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

The most prominent ship lost was almost certainly the Black Sea Fleet’s flagship the Moskva. This Slava-class guided missile cruiser was taken out by Ukraine in April 2022 by what analysts believe was a Neptune anti-ship missile according to The Atlantic. 

Picture: Moskva / Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

Russia has suffered just one damaged minesweeper throughout the conflict, thought to be the Ivan Golubets Project 266M. The ship was damaged by one of Kyiv’s uncrewed surface vessels according to a video of the strike posted by Ukraine Weapons Tracker. 

Picture: Ivan Golubets / Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

A total of five patrol boats have been destroyed as well as two damaged including several vaunted raptor-class patrol boats, BK-16 assault boats, and Project 640 patrol boats. 

Pictured: Raptor-class patrol boat / Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

Russia’s rescue tug Vasily Bekh was destroyed by two Ukrainian Harpoon missiles and it was caught on tape by one of the country’s Bayraktar TB2 drones in June 2022 based on the video evidence posted by Ukraine Weapons Tracker. 

Pictured: Vasily Bekh / Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

Another major Russian loss was the destruction of one Krivak III-class frigate known as the Hetmann Sahaidachny. Originally a Ukrainian ship, it was scuttled during the first days of the invasion according to The Independent so that it wouldn’t fall into Russian hands. 

Pictured: Hetmann Sahaidachny with Turkish vessels / Photo Credit: Wiki Commons

While there will almost certainly be more naval losses to come, what Ukraine has been able to destroy or damage has had a big impact on the war in the Black Sea. Ukrainian officials reported Russia has resorted to hiding its ships out of fear of further attacks. 

"The Russians are now trying to avoid a collision with Ukrainian naval drones," Dmytro Pletenchuk, a Ukrainian Navy spokesperson told reporters according to Newsweek. 

“They feel the danger and are hiding either behind Crimea or in the bays of ports, where they are protected by 'boom barriers,'” Pletenchuk said, adding: "They are also hiding near the second base of the Russian Black Sea Navy, Novorossiysk. 

Pictured: Port of Novorossiysk / Photo Credit: Wiki Commons