Vladimir Putin 'completely furious' at sinking of critical warship

28 December 2023 , 15:30

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Vladimir Putin 'completely furious' at sinking of critical warship

Vladimir Putin is “completely furious” at the sinking of the Novocherkassk warship and has ordered raids across occupied Crimea, according to a Ukrainian partisan group.

The dictator is understood to want to hunt down the resistance fighters which provided intelligence on Novocherkassk's location. An order has now been issued to punish the Crimean air defence forces, Ukrainian partisan group Atesh says.

It wrote on Telegram: "The flywheel of repression is spinning. Local residents have been raided throughout the city, their smartphones are being taken away and their houses are being searched.

"It is reported that Putin is completely furious over the destruction of the Novocherkassk large landing ship. An order was issued to punish the Crimean air defence forces. It is expected that many commanders will be removed and sent to the front to participate in assault groups."

Novocherkassk was struck at port in Feodosiya, Crimea, by a British cruise missile fired from a Ukrainian supersonic Sukhoi Su-24 jet. It went up in a huge explosion as its load, reported to be Iranian-made Shahed suicide drones, detonated.

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A powerful explosion shook the port of Feodosia in Crimea on Boxing Day (social media/e2w)

An enormous blast hit a second ship nearby, satellite images released by Radio Svoboda appear to show. It is understood this was a UTS-150 training ship, which became partially submerged.

At least 52 men from 77 serving aboard the Novocherkassk have been reported missing or injured after the attack, according to the independent Russian media outlet ASTRA, including young conscripts and contract sailors. However, analysts believe the size of the explosion suggests that there may have been a far higher tally of injury and death.

Yan Matveev, the Russian military analyst, said: "In the worst case, up to 100 people could have died instantly. Local authorities announced the death of only one — apparently a port worker.

“The sailors will be called missing and relatives will obtain certificates of the death of their husbands and sons through the courts. At least a couple of dozen people from two shifts should have been there. Neither the Kremlin media, nor the ministry of defence, nor Z-military correspondents and other supporters of the war wrote a word about them."

Bradley Jolly