Ukraine scored a probable naval victory on Thursday, March 24, with the sinking of at least one Russian Federation (RF) warship, and the detonation of a massive explosion in the vicinity of a Ukrainian naval stores base held by RF forces.
The sinking and the blast both were widely observed in and around Berdyansk, a Sea of Azov town best known for its summer resort facilities, but also containing a UAF naval support base. RF forces captured Berdyansk on the fourth day of the war.
Ukraine’s naval command in a statement claimed that its forces were responsible for the sinking of the RF warship Orsk, a large amphibious landing ship commonly used to carry RF Marines and their combat vehicles. The statement gave no details on how the ship was sunk.
Ukrainian conventional and social media on Thursday were flooded with images of a large vessel, apparently a warship, with smoke pouring out of it and going down fast in bell-clear weather, in waters a few kilometers from Berdyansk naval base.
Some unconfirmed social media images showed what appeared to be two vessels sinking off Berdyansk port, but KP could not determine whether this was a second warship, debris from the Orsk, or some other burning object in the water.
The sinking was paralleled by a massive explosion ashore, seemingly at or near the site of the Berdyansk naval base, in a secure section of Berdyank’s commercial shipping port.
Images showed a powerful fireball rising at least more than 100 meters into the air, and debris landing well outside the facility.
Video recorded from what appeared to be a Berdyansk hi-rise apartment building near midday showed black smoke billowing hundreds of meters. Fires apparently had been burning for at least three hours.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or probable damage. It was not immediately clear whether the explosion took place in the naval facility or adjacent to it.
