- Russia said one of its warships had been damaged during an attack by Ukraine on a Black Sea port.
- The Novocherkassk ship was struck in Feodosia, killing one person and injuring two, reports said.
Russia has confirmed that one of its warships was damaged in a Ukrainian attack on a Black Sea port.
Ukraine used guided missiles to attack the large landing ship Novocherkassk at Feodosiya in Russian-occupied Crimea on Tuesday morning, the Russian defense ministry said.
It follows footage of an explosion posted on Telegram by Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, with the caption: "Russia's fleet is getting smaller and smaller!"
"Thanks to the Air Force pilots and everyone involved for the filigree work," wrote Oleshchuk. He urged Russians to leave Crimea "before it's too late."
Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed governor of Crimea, said that one person had been killed and two had been injured in the attack.
He added that six buildings had sustained damage and that residents had been temporarily evacuated— six evacuees were placed in temporary accommodation, while the rest are staying with relatives and friends.
The port area is cordoned off, per Aksyonov.
The Novocherkassk was struck by either British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles or French-made SCALP-EGs, Forbes reported. The missiles were reported as being launched from western Ukraine from a Sukhoi Su-24 bomber— Ukraine's only major anti-ship platform.
The Novocherkassk was moored off the coast of Gaza in 2012 in an apparent operation to evacuate Russian citizens from Israel if tensions with Palestinians escalated.
The Black Sea Fleet took a major hit last year when its flagship guided-missile cruiser Moskva sank two months into the full-scale invasion.
In October, Business Insider's Mia Jankowicz reported that Russia had "lost its control" over the Black Sea as its navy moved to safer ports.
Basil Germond, a maritime security expert, said at the time that Ukraine's ability to target Russian warships with long-range missiles posed a "significant problem" for Russia.
The Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine's repeated strikes on Moscow's Black Sea Fleet were successfully "degrading" the Russian Navy.
In September, a Ukrainian missile hit the Russian Black Sea Fleet's headquarters in Crimea, just weeks after Ukrainian strikes hit a Russian submarine and landing craft on the annexed peninsula.