Russian warship in Crimea 'damaged' in Ukrainian attack

Russian authorities say landing ship the Novocherkassk was damaged in Ukraine's air raid. (EPA PHOTO)

A Ukrainian attack on a Crimean port has damaged a large Russian landing ship and killed one person, Moscow says, after Kyiv said it had destroyed an important Russian warship.

The Russian defence ministry was cited by the Interfax news agency on Tuesday as saying that Ukraine had used air-launched missiles to attack Feodosia and that the Novocherkassk large landing ship had been damaged in the raid.

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

Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of Crimea, said on Telegram that one person had been killed, two injured and six people evacuated from their homes.

A file photo showing Sevastopol in Crimea
Ukrainian forces have managed to launch multiple attacks on Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.

A Ukrainian counteroffensive has made little in the way of battlefield gains and the Russian military has regained the initiative in several places.

However Ukraine has been able to launch a series of attacks on Crimea, the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, inflicting serious damage.

The Ukrainian air force said its pilots had attacked Feodosia in the early hours of Tuesday with cruise missiles, 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.

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

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 in a move Kyiv and the West condemned as an illegal seizure. 

Earlier, Russian forces claimed to have gained full control of Maryinka, a town in eastern Ukraine, in what would be one of Russia's most significant gains since the capture of Bakhmut in May.

A file photo showing an aerial view of Maryinka
Russian forces have claimed control of Ukraine's Maryinka, which has been described as a ghost town.

Most accounts of Maryinka, southwest of the Russian-held regional centre of Donetsk, describe it as a ghost town.

President Vladimir Putin said control of the town, which was once home to 10,000 people, will allow the Russian forces to move enemy combat units away from Donetsk.

"Our troops (now) have the opportunity to reach a wider operational area," he said in a video of the exchange between him and Shoigu posted online by a Kremlin journalist.

The Ukrainian army denied that Russian forces had seized Maryinka.

"It's not correct to talk about seizing Maryinka," Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun told Ukrainian television.

"Our forces are within the city," he said.

Meanwhile, a draft law posted on Ukraine's parliament website late on Monday proposed lowering the age of those who can be mobilised for combat duty from 27 to 25.

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