EXPLAINED: Ukraine’s Strike on Kerch Shipyard in Occupied Crimea

Ukraine said on Nov. 4 that its forces struck a shipyard in the port city of Kerch on the east coast of the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

What did Ukrainian sources say?

"On the evening of November 4, the Armed Forces of Ukraine [AFU] carried out successful strikes on the maritime and port infrastructure of the Zaliv shipyard in the temporarily occupied Kerch" the Telegram channel of the Center for Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.

Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleschuk wrote on Telegram that the shipyard was "where one of the most modern ships of the Russian Navy was stationed" – a ship capable of carrying powerful supersonic Kalibr missiles.

Which missiles were allegedly used?

Oleshchuk hinted that the AFU used SCALP cruise missiles (the French version of the British Storm Shadow missiles), which were launched from Ukrainian military aircraft.

"Well done, as if they had worked with a SCALPel!"  Oleshchuk reported on his telegram.

He noted that the Ukrainian military was "waiting for official confirmation of the results" of the strike.

Several hours later, on the morning of Sunday, Nov. 5, Oleshchuk wrote that he could officially “confirm” the incident had taken place.

The Center of National Resistance of Ukraine has published a video which, according to the source, shows a fire at the Kerch shipyard.

Simultaneously, videos began surfacing on social networks appearing to show rockets soaring towards the shipyard, and a fierce fire engulfing the area.

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What did the Kremlin-installed governor of Crimea and the Defense Ministry say?

Crimea's Russian-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov said Ukraine had fired missiles at a shipyard in Kerch earlier, but that they had been shot down.

"Some of the debris from the downed missiles fell on the territory of one of the dry docks. There are no casualties," he said on social media.

After 00:00 Moscow time, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the strike on the plant was carried out by 15 missiles, 13 of which were shot down.

"As a result of an enemy cruise missile hit, a ship at the factory was damaged," the report said, quoted by RIA Novosti.

Still, it was not reported which ship was damaged.

Some Ukrainian sources claim that the number of missiles was much smaller. According to Ukrainian military reporter Andrei Tsapliyenko, two missiles were shot down, and two more hit the target.

Zaliv [the Gulf] stands as one of Eastern Europe's prominent shipbuilding enterprises, where the construction of vessels for the Russian Navy has been ongoing since 2020.

Since launching its counteroffensive against Moscow's forces in summer 2023, Kyiv has ramped up attacks on the Black Sea peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014.

In September, a successful attack by the AFU targeted the Black Sea Fleet's headquarters in Sevastopol, along with the Sevastopol ship repair plant. Consequently, two Russian ships sustained damage during this incident.