Russia Says It Sank Ukraine’s ‘Last Warship’

Russia claimed Wednesday to have sunk Ukraine's “last warship” during airstrikes on the port city of Odesa, a defense ministry spokesman said. 

“On May 29, as a result of a strike by high-precision weapons on warships at berth in the port of Odesa, the last warship of the Ukrainian naval forces, Yuriy Olefirenko, was destroyed,” the spokesman said in a video recording on Telegram. The spokesman said the ship was flooded and sank following the Russian strike.

Ukraine's navy declined to comment on the Russian claims, AFP reported.

The claim came a day after an audacious drone strike on Moscow that rattled residents of the Russian capital, and that President Vladimir Putin blamed on Ukraine. The Kremlin had vowed to retaliate, but according to the Ministry's account the sinking of the warship came a day before the Moscow attacks. Ukrainian officials had reported that Russian strikes Monday had damaged facilities in Odesa and destroyed five Ukrainian aircraft.

Ukrainian drones struck a Russian warship last week, and in one of Ukraine's most celebrated victories of the war, Ukrainian forces sank the Russian guided missile cruiser Moskva, flagship of its Black Sea fleet, in April 2022 using Neptune missiles. If confirmed, the sinking of the Ukrainian warship would constitute one of Russia's most significant gains in the naval war.

The Yuri Olefirenko, previously called the Kirovohrad, was renamed in 2016 in honor of a Ukrainian marine who died fighting Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The 266-foot landing craft, armed with missile launchers and artillery, was captured by Russian forces in 2014 and later returned to Ukraine.