Minsk

Minsk is a of the Russian Navy. The ship was built in the Gdańsk Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland for the Soviet Navy, and was commissioned in 1983. Minsk is a part of the Russian Baltic Fleet. On 13 September 2023, the ship was damaged in a Ukrainian missile attack on Sevastopol Shipyard. Role in the Russo-Ukraine War Minsk was transferred to Sevastopol, travelling through the Dardanelles on 9 February 2022, as part of a fleet of six landing ships brought into the Black Sea on what Russia called exercises, whilst it denied preparing for an attack on Ukraine. At the time there was some speculation that Russia might make an amphibious attack on Ukraine. Attacks on Sevastopol During 2023, a number of different attacks were made on the Russian fleet in Sevastopol, damaging various ships including two others of the Ropucha class. After the initial attacks, some of the fleet appeared to have been dispersed from Sevastopol, but Minsk remained in port. Missile attack on Minsk On 13 September 2023, Russian officials reported aerial and marine attacks on Sevastopol. They said that three naval drones had been destroyed but some cruise missiles had hit the dockyard causing fires and damage to Minsk and the . Various sources reported that the attacks were made by the UK-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missile launched from a Ukrainian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft. Based on open-source imagery, the UK Ministry of Defence has assessed that the vessel has "almost certainly been functionally destroyed" by the strike. Ukraine claimed the two ships were "likely damaged beyond repair", which the Russian government denied and stated they would be repaired and returned to full operational status.