Satellite photos show damaged Russian navy corvette after Ukrainian missile attack

Satellite photos analysed Monday by The Associated Press showed damage done by a Ukrainian missile strike on a Russian navy corvette moored off Kerch in the Moscow-held Crimean Peninsula. The satellite pictures Sunday from Planet Labs PBC show what appear to be a firefighting vessel, as well as booms in the water to stop oil leakage, from the damaged ship.

What appears to be char marks can be seen on the vessel as well, though it still was afloat. Those marks were not visible on other satellite images captured of the vessel at port. The measurements of the vessel and its shape correspond with a Karakurt-class corvette. In Russian, "karakurt" means "black widow spider."

Those vessels are designed to carry Kalibr cruise missiles, the same kind of missiles that Moscow has used repeatedly against Ukrainian targets since launching their all-out war on Kyiv back in February 2022. The Russian Defence Ministry said late Saturday that Ukrainian forces fired 15 cruise missiles at the Zaliv shipyard in Kerch, with at least two striking a ship and the shipyard.

Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukraine's air force, later wrote in an online message that he believed the strike targeted a vessel carrying Kalibrs. He also suggested Kyiv used long-range French Scalp cruise missiles in the attack.

Andriy Ryzhenko, a captain in the Ukrainian naval reserve, had told Ukrainian media he believed the vessel struck by the missile was the Askold. That Karakurt-class corvette was being built at the port when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Kerch and the shipyard in July 2020.

The Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, has been a frequent target since Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Crimea has served as the key hub supporting the invasion.