The Ukrainian navy claims to have destroyed one of Russia's most important littoral landing warships in the Sea of Azov after Russian propaganda footage revealed its location.
Smoke was seen rising across the skyline of Berdyansk, a city under Russian control, as the massive vessel went up in flames and two others — one which appeared to have been damaged — sailed away from the explosion.
The Ukrainians said they bombed the Orsk, a 370ft Russian Alligator-class tank carrier, as it was sitting at anchor in the port which is about 80 kilometres west of Mariupol, a city besieged by Mr Putin's forces. The development came as a stand-off emerged over evacuations from the besieged city. Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Russian forces prevented civilians leaving Mariupol on Thursday although Ukrainian authorities had despatched 40 buses to the area for an evacuation.
“The Orsk large landing ship of the Black Sea Fleet of the occupiers has been destroyed in the port of Berdyansk captured by Russia,” the Ukrainian navy said in a Facebook post about the attack on the Black Sea port. “The occupiers are burning well,” wrote the Ukrainian armed forces on Twitter, sharing a video showing smoke rising from what is thought to be the Orsk.
The landing ship had its maiden voyage in 1968 and was used to transport military equipment to Syria in 2018 as part of Russia’s backing for President Bashar Al Assad.
Ukraine launched its attack three days after Russian state media TASS broadcast a video of tanks being unloaded from the Orsk. The reporter said the supplies were reinforcements for troops engaged in the battle for Mariupol.
Ms Malyar said the ship was capable of carrying 45 armoured personnel carriers and 400 people.
H I Sutton, a respected naval analyst, said it was “beyond any reasonable doubt” that the Alligator-class warship had exploded in the port.
He said the two ships seen sailing away “as fire raged” appeared to be Ropucha-class vessels.
The attack serves as a further blow to Mr Putin’s debilitating war on Ukraine, which reached the one-month mark on Thursday. Battalions of Russian forces have for weeks been wracked by logistical issues, low supplies of food and fading morale.
Despite suffering heavy losses including military and civilian deaths and damage to infrastructure, morale among Ukrainian troops and volunteers remains high.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday that the Ukrainians had been “carrying out successful counter attacks against Russian positions in towns on the outskirts” of Kyiv. The Mod said the Ukrainians had “probably retaken Makariv and Moschun”.
The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces claimed to have recaptured the town of Makariv, 60 kilometres west of Kyiv.
“The Ukrainian flag was raised over the town of Makariv,” he was quoted by the Kyiv Independent as saying.
Four weeks on from the launch of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian soldiers are remain locked in fierce battles for the capital and other major cities including Mariupol.
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World and US-led military alliance leaders gather at Nato headquarters in Brussels to discuss the war in Ukraine. Reuters -
Smoke rises near a seaport in Berdyansk, Ukraine, whose navy reported it had sunk the Russian ship ‘Orsk’ in the Sea of Asov. AP Photo -
Refugees with children wait for a transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland. AP Photo -
A girl sleeps as refugees from Ukraine wait at the railway station in Przemysl, Poland. More than half of Ukraine's children have already been displaced, Unicef said. AFP -
A school destroyed in a Russian bomb in Kharkiv. AFP -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from the capital Kyiv. AP -
Activists hold placards during a protest in solidarity with Ukraine, at Grand Central Station in New York. AFP -
Ukrainian refugees take sandwiches at Krakow Airport before boarding a plane to Zurich, chartered by a Swiss millionaire. AFP -
A man collects clothes from a damaged house in the city of Zhytomyr, northern Ukraine. AFP -
A customer checks his rifle in a gun shop in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP -
A mother tends to her newborn baby in the shelter of a maternity ward in the city of Zhytomyr, northern Ukraine. AFP -
A serviceman carries the photo of Captain Andrei Paliy, a deputy commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, during a farewell ceremony in Sevastopol, Crimea. AP -
A member of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces stands in front of a damaged house in the city of Zhytomyr, northern Ukraine. AFP -
A Ukrainian serviceman guards a military check point in the city of Zhytomyr, northern Ukraine. AFP -
Zinaida Bogdanova, a resident of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, reacts as she stays at a temporary accommodation centre for evacuees located in the building of a local sports school in Taganrog in the Rostov region, Russia. Reuters -
Children play in front of a building damaged in fighting during the Ukraine-Russia conflict, in the besieged southern port of Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters -
Graves of residents killed by shelling during the Ukraine-Russia conflict are seen in a yard, in the besieged southern port of Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters -
A Russian army soldier stands next to local residents who queue for humanitarian aid delivered during the Ukraine-Russia conflict, in the besieged southern port of Mariupol, Ukraine. Reuters -
A Ukrainian serviceman stands on guard as Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, right, speaks alongside his brother, former heavyweight boxing world champion, Wladimir Klitschko, in the Ukrainian capital. AP -
Family photos lie amid the rubble of the home of former teacher Natalia. The house, in Kyiv, was hit in a military strike. Reuters -
A service member of pro-Russian troops, wearing a uniform without insignia, handles a mortar round at the weapons depot near Marinka, Donetsk. Reuters -
Volodymyr, 80, rests inside his apartment, which was damaged by shelling, in Kyiv. AP -
This Maxar satellite image shows the remains of high-rise apartment buildings in Mariupol. AFP -
A man walks through a residential district of Kyiv that was damaged by shelling. Reuters -
A woman exercises near a car and apartments damaged by shelling, in Kyiv. AP -
Volunteers at a beach fill sandbags to defend their city, Odesa, in southern Ukraine. AP -
A firefighter takes a break from extinguishing flames inside a house in Kyiv that was damaged by shelling. AP -
Rescuers conduct search operations and dismantle debris in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AFP -
People queue at a pharmacy in Kharkiv. AP -
City workers cover the monument to Italian poet, writer and philosopher Dante Alighieri with sandbags to protect against Russian shelling in Kyiv. AFP -
Former teacher Natalia stands near the ruins of her house which was hit in a military strike in Kyiv, Ukraine. Reuters -
Locals clean the area at a residential district of Kyiv that was damaged by shelling, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters
The Russians are reorganising and regrouping before an expected renewed offensive towards Kyiv, the Mod said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday rallied Nato leaders to send more military aid to help troops repel the invading Russian forces.
After addressing delegates at the transatlantic summit in Brussels, Nato agreed to hit Russia with “unprecedented costs” over its invasion of the former Soviet nation.
“President Zelensky addressed us with an impassioned message, thanking Nato allies for the significant support we are providing and stressing the vital importance of even more military assistance,” Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said.
“Today Nato leaders agreed that we must and will provide further support to Ukraine.
“We will continue to impose unprecedented costs on Russia and will reinforce allied deterrence and defence.”
The leaders formally approved the deployment of new Nato battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson is understood to have piled pressure on his fellow Nato members to consider tougher action against Russia. Britain on Thursday announced a further round of sanctions against 65 Russians and Belarusian individuals and entities. A 26-year-old Russian woman linked to Mr Putin’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov was among those who had their assets frozen.
“People will ask, did we do enough? I don’t think we can deny them in their moment of agony. We have the means and they have need,” Mr Johnson said in a speech to his fellow leaders, according to a UK official.
In response to the latest round of sanctions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov branded the prime minister “the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian”.
Downing Street rejected the claim, insisting Mr Johnson has no issue with the Russian people, but is “among the most active anti-Putin leaders”.
