The Ukrainian Navy confirmed the destruction of the ship Orsk in the port of Berdyansk near Mariupol.
The Ukrainian Navy confirmed Thursday that it had destroyed a Russian troop transport ship anchored in the port of Berdyansk near Mariupol on the Sea of Azov.
In a message posted on its Facebook account, the navy wrote: "The troop carrier ship Orsk was destroyed in the occupied port of Berdyansk. Victory to Ukraine!"
The Navy attached its message with three photos, one of which, in a general snapshot, shows the tanker not destroyed, while the other two show smoke in the harbor from afar and a ship burning, in a way that does not allow the ship to be seen clearly.
The Russian "TASS" news agency had previously quoted the "Zvezda" TV channel of the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that this transporter of troops and materials of the Black Sea Fleet was the first Russian warship to arrive in Berdyansk on March 21.
"The arrival of this large landing ship at the port of Berdyansk is an important event that opens possibilities for the Black Sea in terms of logistics, by making full use of Berdyansk's infrastructure," Zvezda channel quoted an officer in the Russian fleet as saying.
The source added that the tanker, which can carry up to 1,500 tons of cargo, "is unloading armored vehicles before our eyes, and it will enhance our deployment."
Berdyansk port is located 80 kilometers west of the strategic port of Mariupol, which the Russians have been trying to control since the start of the military operation in Ukraine on February 24.
This comes as a senior US administration official told Reuters on Thursday that the United States and its allies are working to support Ukraine with anti-ship missiles.
On the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels, the official added, "We have started consulting with allies about supplying anti-ship missiles to Ukraine. There may be some technical challenges when doing this, but this is something we are consulting about and we are starting to work on it with allies."
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