The Unian agency reported that the Ukrainian armed forces participated in Monday’s attack in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), which should have managed to critically damage the Russian frigate in such a way that its combat capability should be greatly reduced.
According to the agency’s sources, the Ukrainians damaged the TK-25 electronic warfare complex or the ZR-90 target illumination radar, which is used to detect and track targets and subsequently mark them for a guided missile. “Probably” the Ukrainian forces also managed to damage the main reconnaissance radar of the Fregat-M2M vessel.
A fire broke out on the ship after the attack, which the Russians managed to put out only after 18 hours, “which testifies to the serious internal damage and the complicated work of the rescue teams”, the agency wrote. Its sources confirmed that the ship suffered critical damage, which significantly limits the possibility of using Kalibr guided missiles. “Currently, the frigate cannot attack the territory of Ukraine,” he claims.
Ukraine attacked the port in Novorossiysk on Monday night. In addition to the mentioned frigate, it also damaged the Jejsk and Kasimov anti-submarine ships, the Valentin Pikul minesweeper, the 30N6E2 fire control radar of the S-300PMU-2 Favorit system or the Pancir-S2 air defense system.
The frigate Admiral Essen entered the service of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in June 2016. It actively participated in the fighting a year later during the Russian intervention in Syria. During the Russian invasion, it attacked, for example, Odesa with Kalibr guided missiles.
