Commander of the Russian landing vessel killed in Crimea

Reports state that during an attack by Ukrainian naval drones on the night of November 10, the commander of the Russian Project 11770 Serna-class landing vessel was killed.

His funeral, which took place on November 20 in Russia, was shared on social media.

The vessel’s commander was Denis Nikitin, a senior midshipman of the Russian Navy, who was buried in Novorossiysk.

The official website of the Black Sea District Cossack Society stated that the Russian invader was killed during a night attack by Ukrainian strike naval drones off the coast of temporarily occupied Crimea.

The incident took place on the night of November 10. During a night operation on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea, the Ukrainian military damaged two landing craft: Project 1176 Akula and Project 11770 Serna.

The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine published a video of a strike on the invaders.

The eliminated commander of the Project 11770 Serna-class landing craft, senior midshipman Denis Nikitin, was born on February 18, 1981, in Uzhur, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, from where he was drafted for military service in the Black Sea Fleet of the aggressor country. After graduating from the midshipmen’s school in 2001, he served in various positions at the Novorossiysk Naval Base.

In addition to the crew, the Russian landing crafts also carried armored vehicles, including a BTR-82 armored personnel carrier, at the time of the attack.

Open sources report that at the time of the invasion, the Russians had two Project 11770 crafts in the Black Sea. However, one of them was severely damaged in June last year during the fighting for Zmiyinyi Island.

At the same time, the Black Sea Fleet also had two Project 1176 crafts, the D-106 and D-295 boats.

Other losses

At the beginning of November, the Ukrainian Air Force destroyed the Russian Askold corvette in temporarily occupied Crimea with a missile.

A Karakurt-class corvette was hit with a SCALP-EG missile at the Zatoka shipyard.