Ukrainian Forces ‘Swat’ Karakurt: Askold Missile Carrier Destroyed In Kerch

A Russian warship was assigned to carry out a mission against Ukraine.

During the shelling of Crimea on November 4, the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck the Kerch shipyard, while one of the newest Russian small missile ships, Askold, was completing its tests there.

As Yuriy Ihnat, a representative of the Ukrainian Air Forces, said the warship would not take part in the shelling of Ukraine.

He noted that the Ukrainians should wait for confirmation of the destruction of the warship, but added that the commander had already thanked the pilots for their work and almost openly named the type of weapons that were used for the strikes.

“It was like a scalpel, our pilots performed perfectly,” he hinted “This is also a message for our partners,” Ihnat said.

At the same time, he said that Askold was undergoing final performance tests and had not yet taken part in hostilities, but being combat-ready it should have to join the fight against Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Operativno ZSU Telegram channel notes that, according to local channels, not only the Askold was in the shipyard but more the 22800 Karakurt-type warships. So there may be more than one damaged ship.

It is worth noting that, according to open sources, the Askold was at the stage of factory testing, and they wanted to put it into operation by the end of 2023. In addition, there could be several more Karakurts at different stages of readiness for combat operations.

Askold was launched in occupied Kerch in September 2021. As the Militarny portal reported, small missile ships of the Karakurt type were designed by the Central Moscow Design Bureau Almaz. Its length is 60 m, width - 10 m, draft - 4 meters. Maximum speed is 30 knots, cruising range is 2500 miles, endurance is 15 days. The Karakurt is armed with a modernized 76.2-mm AK-176MA artillery mount, two AK-630M anti-aircraft artillery systems and a Caliber-NK strike missile system.

Radio Liberty reports that as of February 2022, several warships were being built at the plant in Kerch for the Russian army: Amur, Askold and Cyclon small missile ships; Volga and Viatka cable handlers; Ivan Rogov and Mitrofan Moskalenko landing ships. Cyclone was provided to the occupying fleet in 2023, the fate of the rest is unknown. The aggressor country planned to introduce three more ships of the Karakurt project into the Black Sea Fleet in 2023.

Commander of the Ukrainian Air Forces Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram that it was necessary to wait for official confirmation but “one of the most modern ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet” was in the Kerch shipyard, a carrier of Caliber missiles. Ukrainian pilots attacked with cruise missiles. Oleschuk hinted at the French long-range SCALP missiles.

The SCALP-EG (which stands for "Système de Croisière Autonome à Longue Portée – Emploi Général"; English: "Long Range Autonomous Cruise Missile System – General Purpose") is a French version of the British Storm Shadow. Ukraine received the weapons in July, specifically for striking along enemy lines, including Russian targets in Crimea.