British intel confirms significant damage to Russia’s Olenegorsky Gornyak landing ship

British intelligence confirmed that on the night of August 4, the Russian Navy’s Olenegorsky Gornyak landing ship “almost certainly” suffered serious damage after being struck while near the Black Sea Fleet’s Novorossiysk base.

The British Defense Ministry reported this on Twitter, referring to intelligence data.

"Images of the vessel listing at 30-40 degrees suggest that several watertight compartments were breached, or that the crew's damage control efforts were ineffectual," believes British intelligence.

The summary emphasizes that the ship has augmented the Black Sea Fleet after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has often ferried military and civilian traffic between Russia and occupied Crimea when the Kerch Bridge has been disrupted due to attacks.

The 3,600-tonne and 113-meter long Olenegorsky Gornyak represents the largest Russian naval vessel seriously damaged or destroyed since the sinking of the cruiser Moskva on April 13, 2022.

This is a “significant blow” to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which previously “relocated most of its units to Novorossiysk due to the high threat to Sevastopol,” the report says.

As reported earlier, surface kamikaze drones attacked the Russian landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak, which was based in the Russian city of Novorossiysk. Despite initial claims by Russia’s defense officials that the drone attack was repulsed, videos emerged online the next morning, showing the Olenegorsky Gornyak being tugged, listed on the port side after clearly suffering a strike. Russia had to introduce a temporary ban on maritime traffic in the port of Novorossiysk.