Ukraine Strikes Kostyantyn Olshansky Assault Ship Captured by Russians in 2014

Kyiv’s naval forces targeted the Kostyantyn Olshansky, a formerly Ukrainian amphibious assault ship, using the Neptune missile system, as revealed by the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Naval Forces (VMS) during an interview on the FREEDOM TV channel.

The VMS spokesperson, Dmytro Pletenchuk, said that this vessel was a large Ukrainian amphibious assault ship seized by Russian troops back in 2014 during the occupation of Crimea and was now reportedly intended for use against Ukraine.

“The decision was made to impair this ship using our Neptune system. Damage was inflicted,” he said.

Pletenchuk confirmed that the ship sustained damage, the specifics of which are currently under assessment. He said, “It is presently not in a combat-ready state.”

During the March 23 strikes in Crimea, Ukrainian forces reportedly disabled a total of four Russian military ships – Yamal, Azov, Ivan Khurs, and the Kostiantyn Olshansky.

The VMS confirmed damage to the Ivan Khurs, specifically to reconnaissance equipment in the ship’s assault section. According to Pletenchuk, the Ivan Khurs is currently incapable of combat operations and fulfilling its assigned tasks.

As a result of the strikes, Pletenchuk stated that among the 13 Russian ships, four were destroyed, four were under repair, and five remained operational.

“The situation remains unchanged: Of the four [ships] under repair, Azov and Yamal were just two of the [vessels],” he said.

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“Without these actions (the strikes in Crimea), the Russians would have had six ships in their fleet, but now they have five,” Pletenchuk added.

The Kostyantyn Olshansky, a significant Ukrainian amphibious assault ship, was captured by Russian forces a decade ago during the 2014 annexation of Crimea. For nine years, the ship remained in Sevastopol Bay, where it was disassembled for spare parts and “simply looted,” Pletenchuk reported.

“By the 10th year of the conflict, they realized they were running low on large landing ships of this Project No. 775, and a decision was made to refurbish it,” he added.

Within a year, the Russians restored the ship. However, Pletenchuk said that these efforts aimed to create a fabrication to present to Moscow leadership—a claim of restoring one of their purportedly “own” amphibious assault ships.

“It could have been either the Minsk or the Olenegorsky Miner, given the extent of damage where the feasibility of restoration remains uncertain,” he said, indicating the Russians' intent to pass off the Ukrainian ship as one of their own.

On Monday, Pletenchuk said that verifying information on damage to Russian ships was crucial, leading the VMS to approach the matter with caution. However, he mentioned that the Ivan Khurs might have sustained damage.

Nataliya Humenyuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Operational Command South (OC South), highlighted that the strikes on the Yamal and Azov had a significant impact on Russian logistics and military operations.

Ukraine claimed on Sunday to have targeted two Russian military vessels stationed in Crimea during overnight strikes amidst another round of “intense” Russian aerial assaults.

According to reports from the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) Strategic Communications Center on Sunday, the strikes successfully hit the amphibious landing ships Yamal and Azov, a communications center and various infrastructure sites of the Black Sea Fleet.

Officials installed by Moscow on the peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, stated that their forces repelled a significant Ukrainian aerial assault late Saturday night.

Describing it as the most substantial attack in recent memory, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, mentioned in a Telegram post that a 65-year-old man was killed and four others were injured. However, he did not mention any damage to Russian warships. Footage circulating on social media showed a powerful explosion in the city, sending a fireball and a plume of black smoke into the sky, with what appeared to be Russian air defenses intercepting incoming projectiles.

Since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion, Ukraine has claimed to have destroyed approximately a third of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, often through nighttime attacks using sea-based drones armed with explosives.