-
Russia confirmed a Ukrainian missile attack damaged one of its Black Sea Fleet warships.
-
But Russian officials have said that only one person was killed.
-
Independent Russian media suggests dozens may be dead.
The damage to a Russian warship appears much worse than the Kremlin is willing to acknowledge.
The Russian navy’s landing vessel Novocherkassk — part of its Black Sea Fleet — was hit in a Ukrainian attack on a port in Russian-held Crimea, officials said Tuesday.
While the Kremlin-appointed governor there has said the ship was damaged and one person was killed, video and media reports paint a much-darker picture.
Images of a massive explosion at a dock in Feodosia spread on social media. Reporters and open-source intelligence channels posted photos showing smoldering wreckage at the pier, backing up Ukraine’s claim that long-range missiles triggered a massive explosion that blew up the ship.
Independent Russian media is also questioning the stated death toll.
Astra, a Telegram channel sharing Russian news from independent journalists, reported there were 77 sailors aboard the Novocherkassk at the time of the Ukrainian attack; this class of ship typically has a crew size of about 100.
Even if they do somehow force Ukraine to surrender - they’ve spent so much political capital, military power, actual capital, and human lives on this that they’ll be recovering from their “victory” for decades.
“Win” or lose, Russia’s economy is ruined. The sanctions won’t lift easily and that will cause Russia to do what Germany did after WWI and blame the rest of the world for the state of things. That ends with a big war in Europe as Russia tries to “reclaim” what is “theirs”.