WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine strikes Russian naval landing warship, Moscow admits damage

Ukraine struck a large Russian landing warship in Crimea with cruise missiles in an overnight attack that killed at least one person and could hinder any Russian attempt to seize more Ukrainian territory along the Black Sea coast.

The Russian defence ministry, cited by the Interfax news agency, said Ukraine had used air-launched missiles to attack the Crimean port of Feodosia and that the Novocherkassk large landing ship had been damaged.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had briefed President Vladimir Putin in detail about the attack, the Kremlin said. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 in a move Kyiv and the West condemned as an illegal seizure.

Ukrainian Air Force Spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said he thought it would be hard for the Novocherkassk - which can carry tanks and armoured vehicles and be used to land troops ashore - to re-enter service.

"We can see how powerful the explosion was, what the detonation was like. After that, it’s very hard for a ship to survive, because this was not a rocket, this is the detonation of munitions," he told Radio Free Europe.

Ukraine had used cruise missiles in the attack, without specifying what kind, Ihnat said. Both Britain and France have supplied Kyiv with such missiles.

Russia has hinted it may try to seize more Ukrainian territory along the Black Sea coast. Putin earlier this month said that Odessa, the headquarters of Ukraine's own navy, was "a Russian city."

Footage posted on Russian news outlets on Telegram, purportedly from the port, showed powerful explosions detonating and fires burning.

Unverified social media videos purporting to capture the strike showed a vast explosion and ballooning flames lighting up the night sky. An unverified daytime photograph, which Ukrainian bloggers claimed showed the ship's remains, depicted a charred, elongated clump of debris emerging out of the water by a dock.

Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of Crimea, said on Telegram that one person had been killed. The RIA news agency said four people had been injured.

Although a Ukrainian counteroffensive has made little in the way of battlefield gains and the Russian military has regained the initiative in several places, Ukraine has been able to launch a series of attacks on Crimea, the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, inflicting serious damage.

Previous attacks have targeted ships in dry docks, warships moored in the main port of Sevastopol, airfields, the main Black Sea Fleet HQ building, and the bridge which connects southern Russia to Crimea.

Throughout the war, Russia has used its fleet to impede Ukraine's access to the Black Sea, the main export route for the agriculture and steel exports that formed a significant chunk of the country's economy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy quipped on Telegram that his air force had added to Russia's submarine fleet by damaging the landing ship.

"There will not be a single peaceful place for the occupiers in Ukraine," Zelenskiy wrote.

The Ukrainian air force said its pilots had attacked Feodosia at about 0230 (0030 GMT), destroying the Novocherkassk.

"And the fleet in Russia is getting smaller and smaller! Thanks to the Air Force pilots and everyone involved for the filigree work!" the commander of Ukraine's air force, Mykola Oleshchuk, said on Telegram.

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, said on Telegram it was obvious that Russia would not release detailed information about the attack at a time of war, but said Russia needed to do more to protect its assets in Crimea.

"It's clear that Crimea's air defence systems must be strengthened. And it is clear that it (Ukraine) needs to be deprived of the opportunity to hit Russia," Markov said.

Feodosia, which has a population of around 69,000 people, lies on the southern coast of the Crimean Peninsula.

** Russian forces shell Kherson rail station, one policeman dead -Ukraine interior minister

Russian forces shelled the railway station in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Tuesday as a train was set to evacuate residents, killing one policeman and injuring four people, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

Klymenko said about 140 civilians had been at the station in the early evening and quick action by police to direct them away saved many lives.

"Thanks to the clear actions of the police, everyone was successfully taken to safe places," Klymenko said on Telegram. "Unfortunately, a police lieutenant from the Kirovohrad region lost his life due to the shelling. ... Two more police officers are in the hospital with shrapnel wounds."

Two civilians were also being treated for shrapnel wounds.

Kherson was captured by Russian forces in the first days of the February 2022 invasion but retaken by Ukrainian forces a little more than a year ago. It is under constant attack from Russian forces entrenched in new positions on the east bank of the Dnipro River, with shelling very heavy in recent days.

Video posted on social media showed debris and shattered building materials in different areas of the station.

Ukrainian railways said evacuees were taken from the station by bus northwest to the town of Mykolaiv, which has been subject to fewer Russian attacks. Delayed trains were rescheduled.

The general prosecutor's office said Russian shelling had struck other infrastructure sites and dwellings in the city.

Roman Mrochko, head of Kherson's military administration, had earlier reported a series of Russian attacks using different weapons. Four people were injured.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Zaluzhny concedes Ukrainian forces pulled out of Maryinka

Ukrainian troops have retreated from the town of Maryinka in the Donetsk People's Republic, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny said at a televised news conference.

"Ukrainian troops have withdrawn. In some places they have entrenched themselves in the vicinity of Maryinka, and in other places - a little further away," he said.

Zaluzhy also said that "the city of Maryinka no longer exists".

On Monday, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Russian Armed Forces liberated Marinka in the Donetsk People's Republic, which means they drove Ukrainian artillery further away from Donetsk and made it possible to improve the city’s defenses against strikes. According to Shoigu, over the past nine years, Ukraine turned the town, located five kilometers from Donetsk, into a powerful fortification with underground passages. It was "cracked open thanks to the decisive actions of our servicemen," he said.

Reuters/Tass