The “Kommouna” rescue ship, the oldest operating ship in the Russian Black Sea Fleet, has the mission of “working on the high seas, refloating submarines and sunken cargo,” according to the Ministry of Defense. Ukrainian defense.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announced on Sunday that its navy had struck a submarine rescue ship of Russia’s Black Sea military fleet in the annexed Crimean peninsula.
“Today the Ukrainian Navy hit the Russian rescue ship “Kommouna” (…) The nature of the damage is being verified”specified the ministry.
The Kommouna is responsible for high-sea rescues, sunken submarines or lost cargo, and is one of the oldest Russian military ships still in operation, kyiv said. Launched in 1915 and having participated in both world wars, it is even the oldest military ship still in service in the world, according to several military sites.
The ship is “no longer capable of carrying out its tasks”
Ukrainian navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk said he did not know the precise nature of the damage caused by the attack, but that the ship was not “no longer able to accomplish their tasks”. “This will continue until the Russians run out of ships or leave Crimea.”he added.
The governor of Sevastopol installed by Russia, Mikhail Razvozhayev, had declared earlier that the Russian army had “repelled an attack by an anti-ship missile” against a ship from the major port city. He did not specify the name of the vessel attacked, but stated that “Falling fragments caused a small fire, which was quickly extinguished”.