Russian Cyclone ship targeted in Crimea, Ukraine’s Armed Forces confirm

"According to the updated information, on the night of May 19, the Ukrainian Defense Forces hit a Russian Cyclone missile ship of the 22800 project in Sevastopol," the General Staff said in a statement.

Earlier, Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are checking information about the possible destruction of the Russian ship Cyclone, armed with the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile system.

"In fact, this information is still being verified. Because to be 100% sure, we still need to get the relevant results of objective control. As soon as we have these results, we will definitely inform the public about it. But yes, there is a fairly high probability that there is no longer any cruise missile carrier in Crimea, if the information about the Cyclone is confirmed. And yes, there is such a possibility. And yes, it is high. We are talking about the fact that most likely two units were hit. So, yes. But we are waiting for more results," Pletenchuk said.

The Navy spokesman also suggested that the headquarters of the Russian ship brigade was hit.

"Perhaps this time the information about the destruction of not only the ship's warehouse will be confirmed, but also the possibility that the headquarters of the relevant surface ship brigade was damaged," Pletenchuk said.

According to the Navy spokesman, the Cyclone served as an air defense system in the bay of temporarily occupied Sevastopol.

"The situation is even ridiculous, because I have repeatedly emphasized in broadcasts that this is one of the five small missile ships, the newest in the Black Sea Fleet, which Shoigu has recently scared us with. And I always reminded them that this ship is actually the first, the only one that was accepted into the fleet and it has not launched a single missile. And so it turns out that if the information is confirmed, this is a stillborn child that was a carrier, but never worked as a carrier," Pletenchuk said.

He emphasized that the damage to the Cyclone ship gives the Ukrainian Armed Forces more time to respond to shelling.

"It remained the only cruise missile carrier officially still in Crimea. The rest of the carriers are in Novorossiysk. It is a completely different distance, it is a completely different response time. So, yes, it does affect the tactical capabilities of the Russian army in our region. And this, of course, significantly reduces them. If Cyclone were to use, for example, the same Kalibrs in Crimea, our response time would be much shorter than from Novorossiysk, so this is a security issue for us," Pletenchuk summarized.

• On May 19, the Navy announced the destruction of the Russian minesweeper Kovrovets.
• As of the morning of May 20, the General Staff's daily report on Russian losses stated that one ship had been destroyed.