SUNK

Ukraine Claims to Have Destroyed Large Russian Landing Ship in Berdyansk

Reports it hit the Orsk, amid claims the city is on fire after fuel dumps were blown up by Russian forces.

Ukraine’s navy claimed Thursday it had destroyed a large Russian landing vessel, the Orsk, in the waters of the port town of Berdyansk, which has been under Russian control since Feb. 27. In a short Twitter statement, accompanied by a photograph of the alleged ship on fire, the Ukrainian Armed Forces account said: “The morning starts with good news! In the captured Russian port of Berdyansk, a large landing ship ‘Orsk’ of the Black Sea Fleet of the occupiers was destroyed. Glory to Ukraine!” The Russian military has not commented. There were reports of two powerful explosions, heard throughout the city, at around 6:40 a.m . Thursday, and there have been reports that the city has been “set on fire” by the Russian forces blowing up fuel storage facilities. The port, which is around 50 miles southwest of besieged Mariupol, was an early target for the Russian invaders owing to its strategic logistical importance for the delivery of manpower and military equipment to forces in the southern regions of Ukraine.