Fire on Russian Missile Ship Challenges Naval Capabilities
The press service of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported a fire on the small missile ship "Sierpukhov" on April 7. The unit caught fire at the Baltic Fleet base in Baltiysk, approximately 19 kilometres from the Polish border. Interestingly, Ukrainian intelligence published a recording showing one of the ship's rooms where the fire broke out. We explain what "Sierpukhov" is and what it was doing in the Kaliningrad Oblast.
The Ukrainian intelligence (HUR) not only published a recording from the fire site but also a fragment of the "Sierpukhov" ship plan with the indicated source of the fire; however, it officially did not admit to its destruction. As the Ukrainian service Militarny noted, the incident occurred in the cabin opposite compartment 3C-14, featuring a universal missile launcher. The publication pointed out that the fire caused serious damage - communication equipment and automation systems were among the damaged.
According to HUR, restoring the unit's combat capability may take a considerable amount of time. Interestingly, HUR representative Andriy Yuso said on Radio Liberty that the fire thwarted Russian plans to transfer the ship from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
Are Russian ships becoming helpless targets?
Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, Russian ships have been facing challenging times. It turns out that units stationed in the Black and Baltic Seas are vulnerable to increasingly effective attacks from the enemy. In the case of the Black Sea Fleet, there have been so many incidents that, according to British Defence Minister Grant Shapps, "it is [ed. now] currently functionally inactive". Moreover, the unit has switched to a defensive stance, and the ships comprising it do not leave the ports in Crimea.
Not so long ago, Vladislav Surigin, a Russian military expert, also spoke on the status of the Russian Navy. According to him, the unit is lagging behind other Russian military structures. One of the reasons is sanctions from 2014 and the severing of trade connections with Ukraine. This had a disastrous effect on the construction and repair programs of ships. Surigin reminded us that Ukraine had a monopoly on the supply of turbines and other essential shipbuilding components, and it took a substantial amount of time before Russia could build new capabilities in this area.
Missile boat "Sierpukhov"
"Sierpukhov" is a missile ship of project 21631 (Buyan-M class), launched and commissioned in 2015. Initially, the unit served in the Black Sea Fleet, and since 2016, it has become part of the 36th Missile Boat Brigade of the Baltic Fleet. It is 74 metres long, 11 metres wide, and displaces approximately 1046 tonnes. The "Sierpukhov" ship is armed with a 100 mm A-190 Arsenal naval gun, an "Igla" anti-aircraft missile launcher, and an AK-630-2 Duet complex. The unit also has a universal missile launcher capable of firing Kalibr and P-800 Oniks cruise missiles.
