Yet another Russian warship was reportedly ablaze today after a suspected Ukrainian missile strike.
Video showed a fire purportedly on a vessel in Sevastopol’s Sukharnaya Bay after explosions were heard in the annexed Crimean naval port.
One report from Ukrainian Telegram channel Crimean Wind suggested the world’s oldest active naval vessel had been hit, the 109-year-old Kommuna, built in the reign of the last Tsar, Nicholas II.
A 315ft long salvage ship, it was used during the current war when the Russian navy investigated the sinking of the fleet’s flagship, the Moskva, in 2022, according to accounts.
There was no official confirmation that the distinctive and historic Kommuna, commissioned in 1915, was hit, triggering flames and smoke.
Yet a pro-war Russian report on PolitNavigator channel appeared to back the version of fire on the Kommuna.
Another report suggested a landing ship and another vessel had been targeted.
The Putin-appointed Sevastopol governor admitted to a ‘small fire’ after an incoming missile had been repelled by the port’s defences, but did not name the ship.
The ‘falling fragments’ caused the blaze, which was ‘quickly extinguished’, claimed the official, Mikhail Razvozhaev.
Russian officials frequently blame falling fragments or debris for direct hits.
Some reports say two people were wounded.
‘Divers are now also examining the water area to exclude the presence of explosive elements near the pier,’ said one Telegram channel.
Putin has seen around one-third of his Black Sea Fleet wiped out in the war, hit by missiles of kamikaze marine drones, including several large landing ships.
As a result, his navy has lost its ability to hold sway in western parts of the Black Sea.
The Kommuna – originally the Volkhov – has served in the Russian Imperial, Soviet and post-communist Russian Federation navies.
The warship saw active service in two world wars, the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the country’s following civil war, as well as the current conflict against Ukraine.
Some 96 years ago, in 1928, the Kommuna raised from a depth of 203ft the British submarine HMS L55, which had been sunk in the Gulf of Finland by Bolshevik vessels in 1919.
The Soviets used the designs as a prototype for their own Leninets class submarines.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
