Local news agencies publish, then remove articles saying 74 Russian sailors killed in Ukraine’s strike on Russian military ship in annexed Crimea

Sevastopol Independent Television and Sevastopol News have removed reports that 74 Russian sailors were killed and 27 injured after Ukraine’s Armed Forces struck the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s Novocherkassk large landing ship in annexed Crimea’s Feodosia port.

On December 29, both news sites reported the deaths, allegedly citing official information from the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The articles are preserved in web archives.

Sevastopol Independent Television’s director told Agenstvo that “the information [in the article] does not correspond to reality.” She suggested Agenstvo contact the Russian Defense Ministry’s press service or the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

On December 26, Ukraine’s Air Force command reported that Ukrainian tactical aviation had attacked Feodosia, damaging the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s Novocherkassk large landing ship. Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed that the Novocherkassk ship was hit in Feodosia, saying that it was damaged “while repelling an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.” Photographs allegedly taken after the impact show that the ship almost completely sank.

There have been no official reports about military casualties. According to the Telegram channel Astra, there were 77 sailors on board the ship at the time of the December 26 attack, 33 of whom were missing. Sergey Aksyonov, Crimea’s Kremlin-appointed head, reported that one civilian had been killed in the attack.