Russia's large landing ship Kostiantyn Olshanskyi hit by Neptune missile, Ukrainian Navy says

Ukrainian defense forces hit the Russian ship Kostiantyn Olshanskyi with a Neptune anti-ship missile, Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesman for the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, announced on the air of the national telethon.

Russia stole this landing ship from Ukraine during the occupation of Crimea in 2014.

"It stood in the bay for nine years, and the occupiers began to dismantle it for spare parts. In the 10th year of the war, the adversary realized that it was running out of large landing ships, so they restored it within a year," said Pletenchuk.

The Navy spokesman noted that the extent of damage to the affected vessel is currently being determined. However, it was definitely engaged and is currently incapacitated.

In a comment to LIGA.net, Pletenchuk said that the damage occurred on the same day as the sinking of the large amphibious ships Azov and Yamal, as well as the Russian reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs, i.e. March 24.

After the Ukrainian attack, Russia has five large landing ships in service, four more are under repair, the Navy spokesman added.

"Among the interesting details is that they tried to pass it off [Kostiantyn Olshanskyi] as a repaired Olenegorsky Gornyak or Minsk. After all, the damage there is such that their restoration is highly doubtful," Pletenchuk said.

On March 24, 2024, the General Staff of the Armed Forces reported that as a result of an overnight missile attack on the temporarily occupied Sevastopol, significant damage was caused to the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation.

According to the military, the Defense Forces hit the large amphibious ships Yamal and Azov, the communications center, as well as several infrastructure facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol.

The Russian reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs was also struck.