Russian Warship Damaged After Attack in Black Sea, Kremlin Denies

Russian frigate Admiral Makarov sailing in the Black Sea was reportedly damaged after Ukrainian armed forces attacked it on Friday.

Some media reports citing the Ukrainian armed forces claimed Russia lost 11 vessels in addition to the frigate on May 5. Dumskaya, a prominent local news outlet from Odessa, reported that “The Operational Command South has not yet confirmed the defeat of an enemy ship near Snake island.” However, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine added a '+1' to their boats column in their daily Twitter report on Russian losses this morning.

Kyiv used Neptune anti-ship missile system to hit the Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate, which burst into flames in the Black Sea near Zmiinyi (Snake) Island. Purported satellite images of the incident show the ship on fire.

The Admiral Makarov is one of just three frigates of its class active in the Black Sea. It is said to have been armed with modern air defense systems and Kalibr cruise missiles.

Russian aircraft are now said to be circling over this area of the Black Sea, and rescue vessels have been sent from Crimea to help the ship, reports say.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said it has “no data” on the incident. "We do not have such information," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.