Grant Shapps, Minister of Defence of the UK, has stated that the strike on the large landing ship Novocherkassk in the port of Feodosiia, Crimea, disproves the claims about an alleged "stalemate" in Ukraine.

Shapps said that the destruction of the Novocherkassk ship "shows that those who think that the war in Ukraine has reached a stalemate are wrong!"

"They have not noticed that 20% of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was destroyed within the last four months," he added.

This latest destruction of Putin's navy demonstrates that those who believe there's a stalemate in the Ukraine war are wrong!

They haven't noticed that over the past 4 months 20% of Russia's Black Sea Fleet has been destroyed.

Russia's dominance in the Black Sea is now… https://t.co/F6zRmA9Kwx

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— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) December 26, 2023

"Russia´s domination in the Black Sea is under threat right now, and the new coalition of Navy Forces led by the UK and Norway helps facilitate Ukraine´s victory in the sea," Shapps summed up.

On 25-26 December, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Air Force, confirmed that Ukrainian defenders had targeted the Novocherkassk ship in occupied Feodosiia. 

The Ministry of Defence of Russia has confirmed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces hit the large landing ship Novocherkassk in occupied Feodosiia (Crimea) with missiles fired from Su-24 aircraft on the night of 25-26 December.

Novocherkassk, a large landing ship from the Russian Black Sea Fleet, has been destroyed near Feodosiia by cruise missiles from tactical aircraft belonging to Ukraine’s Air Force.