The Ukrainian armed forces claim to have sunk the Russian Black Sea Fleet ‘Kilo’-class submarine Rostov-on-Don.
Social media posts by the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff on 3 August 2024 say Rostov-on-Don was “successfully struck” in the Crimean port of Sevastopol on 2 August and “sank on the spot”. Four Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile launchers in Crimea were also claimed to have been significantly damaged.
What was used to sink Rostov-on-Don was not explicitly mentioned, but it is presumed to have been a missile. The Ukrainian General Staff’s Facebook account noted that, prior to the attack that sank it, the boat was significantly damaged by a Ukrainian missile strike on 13 September 2023.
“It was further repaired and tested in the [waters around] Sevastopol harbour,” the Ukrainian General Staff stated, adding, “The cost of the submarine is estimated at USD 300 million. The destruction of Rostov-on-Don once again proves that there is no safe place for the Russian fleet in Ukrainian territorial waters of the Black Sea.”
Rostov-on-Don was an Improved ‘Kilo’-class (Project 636) diesel-electric patrol submarine that was commissioned in December 2014. The boat was 73.8 m long and displaced 3,076 tonnes when dived.
The submarine presented a valuable target to the Ukrainian armed forces due to its ability to launch 3M-14 Kalibr land attack missiles out to ranges of 1,500 km or further (the maximum ranges of Kalibr missile variants have not been firmly established).
Through missile attacks and the employment of bomb-laden MAGURA V5 unmanned surface vessels, the Ukrainian armed forces have sunk several major surface vessels of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, severely curtailing its ability to operate out of Crimea. The second attack on Rostov-on-Don, however, is the Black Sea Fleet’s first submarine casualty.
