Russian Frigate Admiral Makarov Reportedly On Fire – Unconfirmed reports from Ukraine state that Russia’s Black Sea Fleet may have suffered – or could suffer soon – another catastrophic loss during the war with Ukraine.
The Russian frigate Admiral Makarov was supposedly hit by Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles and set on fire while sailing close to the now-famous Snake Island early on Friday morning.
A Forbes article listed the frigate Admiral Makarov as possibly the “juiciest target” for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Black Sea.
Citing Russian sources, Ukrainian presidential adviser Anton Gerashchenko posted on his Telegram page that Admiral Makarov was hit by a Ukrainian “Neptune” anti-ship missile. Some of the news reports had reported that the ship was sunk.
Goncharenko added that the ship was “badly damaged” and wrote, “[Y]es, yes, you understood everything correctly! The God of the seas takes revenge on the offenders of Ukraine.”
RIA Novosti quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the reports, telling reporters “we do not have such information” about the missile attack.
However, the Ukrainian news site Dumskaya, said Russian forces had sent helicopters to rescue the ship’s crew, said to be about 180 sailors. This has been confirmed by open-source intelligence monitor OSINTdefender who posted on Twitter that it was “seeming more and more likely” that the reports that the vessel had been hit were “true.”
“Multiple rescue ships and aircraft are reportedly in the area with U.S. surveillance drones keeping eyes on it,” OSINT added.
The Russian Navy, like the Army, has taken a beating during the war. Ukrainian Neptune missiles sank the guided-missile cruiser “Moskva” with the help of US intelligence on April 14. Two other Russian “Raptor” patrol boats were sunk on May 2, by a TB2 Turkish-made drone off Snake Island.
Neptune Anti-Ship Missile. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Snake Island has been a symbol of Ukrainian resistance since the opening moments of the war after a radio exchange, where the Russian Navy demanded a surrender of the small contingent of Ukrainian troops was answered in a graphic fashion. The Ukrainian response to “Russian warship, Go F**k Yourself” went viral worldwide as those troops instantly became folk heroes.
The “Admiral Markarov” had its keel laid in 2012 and was commissioned in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in December 2017, the third of six planned for the Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate of the Russian Navy.
Admiral Makarov – along with Admiral Grigorovich and Admiral Essen have all been taking part in the Ukrainian “special military operation” that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered on February 24.
Steve Balestrieri is a 1945 National Security Columnist. He has served as a US Army Special Forces NCO, and Warrant Officer before injuries forced his early separation. In addition to writing for 19fortyfive.com and for another military news organization, he has covered the NFL for PatsFans.com for more than 10 years. His work was regularly featured in the Millbury-Sutton Chronicle and Grafton News newspapers in Massachusetts.
