Russian frigate Admiral Essen unable to launch Kalibr missiles after Ukrainian drone strike – UP sources
A strike on the Russian frigate Admiral Essen on the night of 1-2 March was carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine together with other units from Ukraine's defence forces. The damaged vessel is currently unable to launch Kalibr cruise missiles, sources have told Ukrainska Pravda.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda sources in the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU)
Quote: "During the attack on the port of Novorossiysk on the night of 1-2 March, the Security Service of Ukraine together with the defence forces struck the frigate Admiral Essen, which carries eight Kalibr cruise missiles. The strike hit the ship's central superstructure."
Details: According to the source, the strike caused a fire on the deck that lasted about 18 hours.
Grenade launchers used to deploy thermal decoys and radio-signal scatterers detonated on board. The TK-25 electronic warfare system, which detects radar emissions and generates interference, was also damaged, along with the ZR-90 Orekh target illumination radars that form part of the shipborne anti-aircraft missile guidance system.
In addition, the main Fregat-M2M surveillance radar, responsible for long-range detection of aerial and surface targets, was likely damaged.
"The ship sustained critical damage that significantly limits its ability to use Kalibr cruise missiles. At present, the frigate cannot carry out strikes on the territory of Ukraine," the source said.
Background:
- A large-scale fire broke out at an oil terminal in the Russian city of Novorossiysk following an attack by kamikaze drones on the night of 1-2 March.
- Sources in the SSU later confirmed to Ukrainska Pravda that drones launched by the SSU and Ukraine's defence forces struck Russia's port of Novorossiysk on the night of 1-2 March. The drones hit warships, a 30N6E2 guidance radar belonging to an S-300PMU-2 Favorit system, a Pantsir-S2 air defence missile and gun system and six out of the seven oil loading arms at the Sheskharis oil terminal.
- Later, Ukrainska Pravda's sources said that Ukraine's defence forces struck the trawler Valentin Pikul. The anti-submarine ships Yeysk and Kasimov also sustained serious damage.
- Later, CyberBoroshno, a community of OSINT analysts, analysed reports from Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) and concluded that Ukrainian forces likely struck the Russian frigate Admiral Essen during the attack. Russia had been using the vessel to launch Kalibr cruise missiles on targets in Ukraine.
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