Ukrainian intelligence operation linked to fire on Russian missile ship Serpukhov in Kaliningrad
A small missile ship named "Serpukhov" caught fire in the Kaliningrad region during a special operation by Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate, reported the public broadcaster Suspilne, citing sources within the Ukrainian intelligence services.
According to the source, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine conducted a special operation in the Kaliningrad region. Notably, on April 7, the ship Serpukhov of Project 21631 caught fire at the Baltiysk naval base. This vessel is the fifth ship in the series.
The Serpukhov was launched on April 3, 2015. Later that year, the ship arrived at the homeport of the Black Sea Fleet in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol in Crimea. Also in 2015, the ship was officially commissioned into the 41st Missile Boat Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet.
The Serpukhov is equipped with the 3S14 vertical launching system for eight Oniks missiles, with the future potential to house Zircon and Kalibr missiles. The ship can strike targets up to 1,500 kilometers away, although some reports suggest a range of up to 2,000 kilometers.
On April 3, the pro-Ukrainian partisan movement "Atesh" reported Russia had relocated a significant part of its ships from the temporarily occupied Crimea to Novorossiysk. In addition, the underground movement detected several cargo ships in the Tsemes Bay.
On March 31, the UK Ministry of Defence indicated that the Russians had attempted to protect their Black Sea Fleet ships by installing barges at the entrance to the Novorossiysk marine port.