Kremlin acknowledges Ukraine's attack on Russia's warship

Moscow: Russia said on Tuesday that Ukraine attacked and damaged a warship in the Feodosia port in occupied Crimea. The Kremlin acknowledged the attack, which Ukraine and its allies claimed as a significant setback for the Russian navy, Agence France-Presse reported.

Kyiv said that its airforce struck the Novocherkassk landing ship. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joked on social media that the attacked ship joined "the Russian underwater Black Sea fleet", AFP quoted.

Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a social media post, "The occupiers will not have a single peaceful place in Ukraine".

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told the media that Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed the president about the attack and detailed to him the damage it sustained.

Earlier, Ukraine's military had announced the attack that it had destroyed the Russian naval ship through a missile strike and the eastern region of Crimea. The Ukraine defence ministry wrote on X, "Novocherkassk landing ship was destroyed in Feodosia tonight".

The military published a photo featuring flames and smoke in a port in the dark.

"Ukraine's aviation did an excellent job. Crimea is Ukraine. There is no place for the occupier's fleet here," the ministry wrote on the platform.

After Ukraine hit Russia's Black Sea fleet's headquarters in Sevastopol in September, the latter was forced to move warships to ports further east.

British Defence Minister Grant Shapps wrote on X, "This latest destruction of Putin's navy demonstrates that those who believe there's a stalemate in the Ukraine war are wrong!"

He added that Russian dominance in the Black Sea is being challenged at present.