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View of the port of Feodosia (in July 2022)

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IMAGO/Sergei Malgavko / IMAGO/ITAR-TASS

Ukraine says it has destroyed a warship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The Ukrainian Air Force said on Tuesday on the online service Telegram that its pilots had destroyed the landing ship "Novocherkassk". The ship was believed to have been carrying Iranian drones, which are being used by Russia against Ukraine, the air force said.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces did not provide information about where the "Novocherkassk" was attacked in a first post, later the Feodosia region was named. The commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Mykola Oleshchuk, also shared a video showing an explosion at the Russian naval base Feodosia on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula. "And the Russian fleet is getting smaller and smaller! Thanks to the pilots of the Air Force and everyone involved for the delicate work." He did not provide any evidence to support his claim.

The Russian governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, confirmed an "enemy attack" in the region. The port area is cordoned off," he wrote on Telegram. There had been an explosion there, a fire that had broken out had been brought under control. Images published by several Russian news agencies on Telegram showed powerful explosions and fires over a port area.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 in violation of international law. The Ukrainian government has repeatedly stated that it wants to reconquer the peninsula in the Black Sea. Since then, Ukraine has repeatedly attacked military targets in Crimea. In April 2022, she sank the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, the Moskawa, humiliating Russia.

Ukraine, meanwhile, reported the downing of Russian drones. The Air Force said Ukraine's air defense system destroyed 13 of the 19 drones that Russia fired at the country overnight. Russia's army, on the other hand, claims to have occupied the completely destroyed town of Maryinka in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Maryinka is now under Russian control, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. However, the Ukrainian army rejected the claims.

sol/dpa/Reuters