Russia’s most advanced frigate is allegedly on fire in the Black Sea following claims it was struck by a Ukrainian missile in what would be a second hit on the Kremlin's fleet in the area.
While the attack remains unverified by official channels, it is understood that the Admiral Makarov, carrying 180 Russian sailors, was hit close to Snake Island, 35 kilometres off the Ukrainian mainland.
It appears that the 4,000-tonne warship was struck by one of Ukraine’s Neptune missiles, which sunk the Moskva missile cruiser, the flagship of the Black Sea fleet, last month.
No western anti-ship missiles supplied to Ukraine are believed to be operational.
If it is proven that the Makarov was destroyed by a Ukrainian missile, it will be yet another major blow to the Russian military and a significant boost to morale in Kyiv.
It will also raise significant questions as to why the warship, which is equipped with anti-missile defences, was so close to the Ukrainian mainland, especially after the sinking of the Moskva.
It is unknown if there were any casualties in the attack but in the early hours of Friday, a number of rescue ships and aircraft were scrambled to the area off Snake Island, open source intelligence showed.
The small island has assumed a special status in the war after its 13 defenders rebuffed the Moskva when its crew ordered them to surrender on the first day of the war.
Snake Island is now held by the Russians and the Makarov’s presence might have been to protect ships delivering food and weapons, military analysts suggested.
However, the Kremlin stated on Friday afternoon that the Makarov was “not hit by missile” and that the warship had “successfully intercepted a missile”.
The Makarov, the latest of the Grigorovich-class frigates, has been in service for a little more than four years and had taken part in attacks on Ukraine with its Kalibr cruise missiles.
It is equipped with more sophisticated defences than the Moskva, with 24 launchers for surface-to-air missiles and two six-barrelled, 30 millimetre cannons capable of firing 10,000 rounds a minute for close-in defence.
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The ship also has surface search radars that should have picked up the Neptunes and allowed it to co-ordinate with its fire control radars to launch its missiles.
“This frigate does have a decent air defence system on board so it is difficult to determine whether it did achieve a certain number of hits and its close-in defence worked but that they were overwhelmed by the number of incoming missiles,” said Sidharth Kaushal, a naval expert at the Rusi think tank.
“It's a pretty well defended ship. It can't defend a wide area but it should certainly be able to defend itself.”
The US also reportedly had a Global Hawk surveillance drone in the area, which would have been capable of pinpointing the warship’s position.
Intelligence sources have previously suggested that an American P8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft might have discovered the Moskva's position last month.
