Ukraine's General Staff confirms destruction of Russian landing ship Tsezar Kunikov

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has confirmed reports of the destruction of the Tsezar Kunikov, a large landing ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, on the morning of 14 February.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook

Quote: "The Armed Forces of Ukraine, in cooperation with units of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, destroyed the large landing ship Tsezar Kunikov belonging to the occupiers."

Details: The General Staff noted that the ship was in Ukraine’s territorial waters near the city of Alupka at the time of the attack.

For reference: According to the Russian Black Sea Fleet's website, the Tsezar Kunikov is a Project 775 large landing ship. The vessel is 112.5 metres long, 15 metres wide and has a draft of 3.7 metres. The warship has the following weapons: 2x2 57-mm AK-725 artillery pieces, 4x8 launchers of man-portable air defence systems, and 2x30 122-mm A-215 Grad-M multiple rocket launchers.

There are 87 crew members.

The ship can reportedly be used to set up minefields. The landing ship can be used with various loading options: 150 troops and 10 T-55 tanks with a crew of 40; 12 PT-76 amphibious swimming tanks with a crew of 36; a unit consisting of 3 T-55 tanks with a crew of 12, 3 120-mm mortars, 3 2G 27 combat vehicles, 4 ZIL-130 vehicles, 4 GAZ-66 vehicles and one GAZ-69 off-road vehicle.

The landing party consists of 147 troops. The ship is capable of carrying 650 tonnes of cargo over a distance of 4,700 miles.

According to Wikipedia, Tsezar Lvovich Kunikov, a Soviet officer and commander of a landing unit, after whom the warship in question was named, died on 14 February 1943 and was buried in Gelendzhik, where Russian President Vladimir Putin has a bunker.

Previously: At the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Tsezar Kunikov was docked in the Russian-occupied port city of Berdiansk and sustained damage when Ukrainian forces sank the Saratov landing ship in March 2022.

Background: 

• Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defence claimed that its air defence forces had supposedly shot down six drones in the Black Sea on the night of 13-14 February.
• At the same time, Telegram channels reported that something was burning in the sea near Alupka-Katsiveli. Two Mi-8 helicopters were also reportedly circling low over the water in the area.
• The Krymsky Veter (Crimean Wind) Telegram channel reported that drones had supposedly struck a landing ship.
• Later, a Ka-27 search and rescue helicopter was also spotted in the area of the settlement of Foros (Russian-occupied Crimea).
• Sources of Ukrainska Pravda in Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reported that DIU’s drones struck the large Russian landing ship Tsezar Kunikov in the Black Sea on the morning of 14 February.

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