The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that on the night of May 19 in Sevastopol, the Defense Forces of Ukraine struck the Russian missile ship "Zyklon" project 22800.
The destruction of the Russian sea minesweeper "Kovrovets", which is part of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation, was announced earlier. "The Defense Forces of Ukraine destroyed the sea minesweeper "Kovrovets", - it was reported in the morning report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on May 19.
The Navy specified that the minesweeper was destroyed on the night of May 19.
However, within a day, information appeared on Russian military telegram channels that another ship had actually been destroyed - the "Calibre" carrier "Zyklon", which Russia is using to attack Ukraine.
On May 21, the General Staff confirmed this information, adding that the ship was hit in Sevastopol.
Russia has not officially reported the destruction of either of these two ships.
However, the occupation leader of Sevastopol, Mykhailo Razvozhaev, reported at midnight on May 19 about a missile attack on Crimea, which, according to him, was able to be repelled by air defense.
"According to the data of the rescue service of Sevastopol, no damage to civil infrastructure was recorded," he emphasized.
Information from Razvozhaev indicates that Sevastopol was attacked with cluster munitions. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation also confirmed this information.
"9 ATACMS operational-tactical missiles and one UAV were destroyed over the territory of the Republic of Crimea by regular means of air defense," the ministry said in a statement.
Over the past two weeks, Ukraine has several times attacked Russian military facilities on the Crimean peninsula, in particular at the Belbek airfield. According to the Russians, long-range ATACMS missiles with a cluster warhead provided by the United States were used for the strikes.
According to data from Russian open sources, "Zyklon" is a missile ship of project 22800 (also known by the code "Karakurt").
This new ship was handed over to the Russian Navy only in July 2023.
Regarding its technical characteristics: the displacement is 800 tons, the length is 65 meters, the width is 10 meters, the draft is 4 meters. The maximum speed reaches 30 knots, and the range is 2,500 miles at a speed of 12 knots. Autonomy is 15 days.
The vessel is armed with a vertical launch system for Onyx and Kalibr-NK missiles, a modernized 76.2 mm AK-176MA artillery system and a Palash anti-aircraft missile system.
Russia often uses Onyx and Caliber missiles in its attacks on Ukraine. Experts believe that the "Zyklon" may be the last missile-class surface ship in the Black Sea Fleet, although there are still submarines.
Ukrainian military experts claim that the destruction of such a modern missile ship is a significant achievement for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, compared to the sinking of a minesweeper, which was reported earlier.
"Kovrovets" is a sea minesweeper designed for a variety of tasks, such as conducting trawls for ships and vessels, reconnaissance and control trawling, laying fairways in minefields and participating in the laying of mines in remote areas from their bases.
This ship entered the Black Sea Fleet exactly 50 years ago. He was actively involved in the protection of Soviet industrial vessels in fishing zones in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa.
Also, "Kovrovets" took part in solving the tasks of anti-mine protection of Soviet shipping in the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war.
In 1987, he led 16 convoys (27 Soviet ships) through areas with explosive zones, covering 17,900 miles.
In 1988, the ship escorted 32 tankers and transports through the mine-prone areas of the Persian Gulf.
Since February 2016, "Kovrovets" has started anti-mine patrols near the coast of Syria.
From January to May 2017, he participated in the permanent operational unit of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea.
The ship's crew consists of 68 people, displacement - 745 tons (full - 800 tons), length - 61 meters, width - 10.2 meters.
On board "Kovrovets" there are powerful acoustic and radar systems, anti-aircraft missile systems "Strila-2", artillery and machine gun installations, a rocket launcher.
In May 2017, "Rossiyskaya gazeta" reported that "Kovrovets" had set a record for the length of stay on combat duty in the far sea zone.
This minesweeper spent 132 days on active duty in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Syria, where it searched for mines that were reported to have been planted by ISIS fighters.
RIA Novosti reported in February 2016 that, although there are doubts about the possibility of ISIS without naval carriers to replace approaches to naval bases, regular trawling is planned off the coast of Syria to ensure the safety of ships and crews.
"Kovrovets" arrived near the shores of Syria instead of another minesweeper - "Ivan Golubets".
This ship was also damaged by the Ukrainian attack. In October 2022, naval drones of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked a minesweeper in the Sevastopol bay.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation confirmed the damage to "Ivan Golubets".
The Russian authorities did not comment on the possible damage to the minesweeper "Kovrovets".
