Report: Russian Warship on Fire at Sevastopol Dock

 

Reports are appearing on the Internet along with photos and videos stating that one of Russia’s warships used to patrol the area around Sevastopol and Crimea appears to be on fire at its dock. There has been no confirmation or claims of responsibility, but it marks a series of incidents impacting the Russian fleet in the Black Sea region.

The site Crimea Wind first posted the reports and images of smoke coming from the dock at the naval station near Sevastopol. At first, they could only speculate which vessel might be involved due to the camouflage netting covering the superstructure of the vessel. 

Later information revealed the identity of the vessel as one of Russia’s Project 1124-M vessels, a small corvette. The class was mostly built from the mid-1960s to the 1980s and used as patrol boats and for anti-submarine warfare. The ships are approximately 72 meters (235 feet) and 1,000 tons displacement.

The smoke was first spotted on November 3, and the fire may still be burning. The Russian Navy has not commented.

 

 

The reports said Russia had four of the vessels based in Sevastopol, but in 2024 repositioned two of the ships to the naval base at Novorossiysk.

There have been a series of unexplained events for the Russian fleet, including last week, a floating crane capsized, killing two workers in the shipyard and injuring 20 or more. Officials said a criminal investigation had been started without providing further details. 

The Kyiv Post also highlights that the reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs and the amphibious assault ship Caesar Kunikov were attacked by Ukrainian forces. However, the newspaper quotes Ukrainian officials saying it is harder to attack the Russian fleet because the ships are remaining in port or have been transferred to ports such as Novorossiysk. They note that fewer of the ships are sailing in the open waters, exposing them to attack.