Has Ukraine blasted ANOTHER Russian warship? MP says frigate is 'in trouble' in the Black Sea and suggests it has been hit with a missile

• Oleksiy Goncharenko, head of Odesa regional council, said Russian frigate Admiral Makarov got into 'trouble' in the Black Sea overnight
• He reposted local news article suggesting it was shot with a Ukrainian missile 
• Reports also suggest that Russia has dispatched rescue boats and aircraft, while tracking data shows an American drone circling overhead
• If confirmed, it would be second warship hit after Moskva was sunk last month 

By CHRIS PLEASANCE and WILL STEWART FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 12:56 BST, 6 May 2022 | UPDATED: 13:36 BST, 6 May 2022 

Admiral Makarov, one of Russia's most state-of-the-art frigates, has reportedly been hit by a Ukrainian missile while sailing in the Black Sea (file image)

Ukraine may have shot another Russian warship with an MP saying one of Putin's state-of-the-art frigates is 'in trouble' in the Black Sea.

Oleksiy Goncharenko, head of the council of Odesa which houses Ukraine's largest naval base, identified the vessel on his Telegram channel as the Admiral Makarov.

He said the vessel ran into difficulties overnight, before reposting a report from a local news outlet suggesting it had been shot with a Ukrainian missile near Snake Island - whose defenders memorably told another warship to 'go f*** yourself' .

Unconfirmed reports suggest rescue vessels and aircraft have set off from Russia's largest Black Sea port of Sevastopol towards the site, while flight tracking data shows an American drone is circling nearby.

If confirmed, it would be another hugely embarrassing loss for Russia after Ukraine managed to sink the Moskva - the flagship of Putin's Black Sea fleet - along with hundreds of her crew.

Goncharenko wrote: 'The patrol frigate of the Russian Navy 'Admiral Makarov' is despondent. The God of the seas takes revenge on the offenders of Ukraine. 

'The frigate Admiral Makarov was laid down in February 2012 at the Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad and launched in September 2015. 

'And in 2022, when he took part in the murder of Ukrainians, he was struck by the God of the Seas. He hasn't set off after Moskva yet, but the trouble has begun.'

Around half an hour later, he posted an article from local news outlet Dumskaya which said: 'According to preliminary information, the frigate was unable to dodge the Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missile . 

'The ship is badly damaged, but remains afloat . For now.'

Nobody from the Ukrainian military has so-far commented on the attack, and there has been no acknowledgement from the Kremlin either. 

The Makarov is an Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate, one of the Russian navy's newest vessels and the most state-of-the-art frigate operating in the Black Sea.

The Moskva, flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, was sunk in a Ukrainian missile strike on April 14 which caused it to catch fire (pictured)

Russia was forced to admit the Moskva had sunk, though blamed it on a combination of an unexplained explosion on board and 'rough seas'

Costing around $500million each, the warships are equipped with eight cruise missile launchers and have almost certainly been involved in attacks on cities in western Ukraine during the conflict.

They also carry a 100mm naval gun, two dozen anti-aircraft missiles, anti-ship torpedoes and close-in weapons systems designed to blow up incoming missiles.

The Admiral Makarov is one of three major naval combatants in the Russian navy in the Black Sea.

It was 'the best and most important of them', according to an analysis by forbes.com in a report earlier today.

'And that makes the 409-foot Admiral Makarov perhaps the most valuable target for Ukrainian missile crews and drone operators.

'We don't know exactly which of its best Neptune anti-ship missiles the Ukrainian navy has left or whether Kyiv's TB-2 drones are hunting for the Russian frigate or her Black Sea sisters.

'In any event, it's apparent Russian fleet commanders appreciate the danger.

'There's evidence Admiral Makarov's skipper has been taking pains to keep her away from the Ukrainian coast.

Ukraine has also destroyed the Orsk, a Russian Alligator-class landing ship, which was blown up in the port of Berdyansk after state media revealed its location

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10789563/Ukraine-war-Russian-battleship-hit-Black-Sea.html