The Armed Forces of Ukraine may have damaged the frigate Admiral Essen, which launches missiles at Ukraine
On the night of 2 March, during a drone attack on the port of Novorossiysk, Ukrainian forces likely struck the Russian frigate Admiral Essen, which Russia had used to launch Kalibr cruise missiles against Ukraine.
This was reported by OSINT analysts from the “CyberBoroshno” community after analysing satellite images of the Novorossiysk military port.
According to the analysts, the strike hit the ship’s central superstructure. As a result, there was likely a detonation of PK-10 decoy-launching grenade systems, and the TK-25 electronic warfare complex was reportedly completely destroyed.
In addition, the ZR-90 “Orekh” fire-control radars were damaged. Debris may also have affected the ship’s main radar, the Fregat-M2M.
Analysts suggest that other vessels in the port may also have been damaged during the attack, although there is currently no confirmation of this.
The Admiral Essen is a Project 11356R “Burevestnik” frigate launched in 2014. It is part of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and was used for missile strikes on Syria in 2017 and, since 2022, for attacks against Ukrainian territory.
The ship is armed with 3M14 Kalibr cruise missiles, the Shtil-1 surface-to-air missile system, and a 100mm A-190 artillery mount.
On the night of 2 March, the Security Service of Ukraine, together with the Defence Forces, carried out an attack on the seaport in Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, damaging several Russian military vessels.
