Ukraine uses British missiles to wreck Russian submarine, warship (WATCH)

Ukraine on Thursday confirmed it wrecked a Russian submarine with British weapons, during a missile attack on the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea. The Russian cruise missile carrier -- the Rostov-on-Don -- was significantly damaged in the massive Ukrainian strike, as was the Kremlin warship, the Minsk. A senior Ukrainian military official confirmed that Ukrainian pilots used the British cruise missile Storm Shadow for the attack.

The British cruise missiles were reportedly fired from Ukrainian warplanes. Wednesday’s attack on the Sevastopol facility used to service the Russian Black Sea Fleet is thought to have left both the Kilo-class submarine Rostov-on-Don -- used to launch Kalibr missiles at Ukraine -- and the landing ship Minsk beyond repair. 

The disclosure that British Storm Shadow missiles were used will fuel tensions between Russia and the UK, which has been highly proactive in arming and training Ukrainian forces. The British position has always always been clear, however: that as illegally occupied territory, the Crimean peninsula is fair game for Ukrainian attacks.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said Ukraine launched 10 cruise missiles on the Sevastopol shipyard on Wednesday, but only three hit their targets, damaging two military vessels. Unusually, on Thursday morning, Ukraine’s army claimed the attack and said Russia would not be able to repair the ships in the near future.

“The large Russian landing ship Minsk and the submarine Rostov-on-Don, which were hit during the night attack in Sevastopol, most likely cannot be restored,” Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, said on Ukrainian TV. Russian Telegram channels confirmed the names and types of vessels.

Natalia Humeniuk of Ukraine’s Army Operational Command South added that the military ships were most likely damaged beyond repair for the Russians, as the only place to carry out repairs was the shipyard which was razed in the attack.

Invading Russian forces have frequently launched cruise missiles against сities and towns in the west of Ukraine from submarines in the Black Sea, as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war continues.

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