The Navy commented on the raising of the sunken "Novocherkassk" by the Russians
Russian military forces have begun an operation to lift the sunken large landing ship (LLS) "Novocherkassk" from the bottom of the Black Sea, which was destroyed by Ukrainian forces in December 2023. However, this task will prove to be a difficult challenge for the occupiers, as the ship sustained extensive damage due to the detonation of its ammunition.
This was stated by the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, Dmytro Pletenchuk, on "Kyiv24". He noted that "Novocherkassk" would have to be raised in parts because the explosion was so powerful that little was left of the ship’s hull and armaments.
"Regarding ’Novocherkassk’, judging by the scale of the detonation, it was most likely used as a floating ammunition depot. Moreover, it had enough of its own standard armament to detonate spectacularly. So yes, they are raising it in parts," said the Navy spokesperson.
Pletenchuk also remarked that salvage operations are a lengthy and high-tech process. He jokingly added that of the entire structure, probably only the anchor remains intact.
"They can use, for instance, the anchor from the sunken ship. Why not? It was somewhere there. Perhaps it wasn’t heavily damaged in the explosion," Pletenchuk joked.
Pletenchuk also emphasized that Crimea can no longer serve as Russia’s main base for ship repairs due to its being within the range of enemy fire. Instead, there is a repair base in Novorossiysk, but its capacities do not compare to the Crimean factories and it can only handle current repair needs.
"So, repairs are challenging, construction is challenging, and there’s no point, because even two new missile ships ’Karakurt’, which were designated for the Black Sea Fleet, were withdrawn from the Azov-Black Sea region where they were undergoing sea trials due to fears of their loss. This is because the previous two ships of this project, ’Askold’ and ’Cyclone’, were destroyed in Crimea," Pletenchuk stated.
02 November 2024 г., 23:50
