Ukrainian Neptune missile strikes railway ferry with fuel tanks in southern Russia

The Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a Neptune missile attack on a railway ferry with fuel tanks in one of Russia's largest passenger ports in southern Russia, representatives of operational headquarters said, RIA Novosti reports.

Photo: dvidshub.net by Дин Джонсон, PDM

"The Kiev regime has committed another terrorist attack in the Krasnodar region. A railway ferry with fuel tanks in the port of Kavkaz was attacked. Emergency and special services are working at the scene. The scale of ​​the fire and information about victims is being clarified," operational headquarters representatives said.

The missile reportedly hit the moored vessel.

It is believed that the attack was conducted from the Odessa region of Ukraine. 

The traffic on the Crimean Bridge was suspended.

Details

R-360 Neptune is a Ukrainian subsonic cruise missile with all-weather capabilities developed by the Luch Design Bureau in Kyiv as an anti-ship missile, with a later variant for land attack. Neptune's design is based on the Soviet Kh-35 subsonic anti-ship missile, with substantially improved range, targeting and electronics equipment. It has a range of over 200 kilometres. The system requirement was for a single missile to defeat surface warships and transport vessels with a displacement of up to 9,000 tonnes, either in convoys or moving individually. The first training missile divizion (battalion) entered service with the Ukrainian Navy in March 2021, with the first operational naval use in 2022. The land-attack variant has a new guidance system and was first fielded and used in 2023.

Port Kavkaz is a small harbour on the Chushka Spit in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, on the eastern side of Kerch Strait. It is adjacent to the village of Chushka, which is now largely deserted due to toxic effects of the port. The port is able to handle vessels up to 130 metres (430 ft) in length, 14.5 metres (48 ft) in breadth and with draft up to 5 metres (16 ft). It was the eastern terminal of the railroad and car Kerch Strait ferry line connecting Krasnodar Krai with Crimea (the western terminal of the ferry line is Port Krym). It is served by a railway line and the Port Kavkaz railway station. The southern zone of the port has been under renovation to increase the port's throughput to 4 megatonnes (3,900,000 long tons; 4,400,000 short tons). On 31 May 2024 Ukrainian missiles struck an oil depot at the port, which stored oil products bound for Crimea.