Ukraine MoD claims landing ship of Russia's Black Sea fleet destroyed in drone attack

In a key development pertaining to the ongoing war in Eastern Europe, Ukraine on Saturday claimed to have destroyed yet another Russian ship weeks after the sinking of the warship Moskva in the Black Sea. Taking to the official Twitter handle, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry has claimed it destroyed the landing ship of the "Serna Project" using Bayraktar TB2. The announcement by the Ukrainian Defence Ministry comes as the war between Russia and Ukraine transcended 70 days unabated.

In the tweet, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry shared a video which depicted the vessel near Snake Island which had been hit by a Bayraktar drone in the Black Sea. The Defence Ministry further launched a sarcastic attack at the invading forces by stating that the Russian forces will now carry out the traditional parade of its Black Sea fleet on May 9 'at the bottom of the sea.' Earlier in April, Ukrainian officials had claimed that their forces had hit the Russian warship Moskva with missiles. However, Kremlin had retorted that a fire was reported aboard the Moskva and that it was not attacked, according to AP. However, days later, the Russian authorities had informed that the Moskva had in fact sunk after being heavily damaged, Associated Press reported. 

Russia lost more than 25000 soldiers in its military offensive: Ukraine 

It is pertinent to mention here that Russia, on February 24, launched a “special” operation in Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Since then, deaths and destruction have been reported in Ukraine due to ongoing hostilities between the two warring nations. In the latest update on May 8, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence claimed that around 25100 Russian troops have lost their lives since February 24. According to Ukrainian Defence Ministry, Russian armed forces have lost 2713 combat armoured machines, 509 artillery systems, 172 MLRS, 1122 tanks, 155 helicopters, 199 aircraft and 84 anti-aircraft warfare systems. The Ukrainian Defence Ministry claimed that Russian troops have lost 1934 vehicles and fuel tanks, 341 unmanned aerial vehicles, 11 vessels including ships and boats, 38 special equipment and 90 cruise missiles.