The Storm Shadow missile that destroyed the Russian lander was a SCALP NAVAL missile with a range of 560 km.
The tragedy for the Russians of the destruction of the landing craft "Novocherkassk", according to experts, is due exclusively to the air defense of Crimea, which, according to them, had long been waiting in vain for the action of the new anti-aircraft system "Prometheus".
Three years ago the Russian government promised the S-500 air defence system, which would save the Black Sea fleet, whose serial production seems to have started in 2022.
"And where is it?" Russian expert Sergei Ischenko asks.
The S-500 air defense system has no analogue in the world
"It is likely that the Storm Shadow missile attack by the Ukrainian army on Theodosia on the night of December 26, 2023, will soon be forced to recognize it as a milestone in our struggle with Kiev over the Black Sea.
Because, as it turns out, then, quite unexpectedly, the enemy for the first time used the latest and very advanced weapons, which had previously been possessed by only a few NATO countries.
As a result, I recall, the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to destroy the large landing ship Novocherkassk, which was anchored at the pier.
The burnt hull debris immediately fell to the ground and the twisted metal parts of the superstructure, gun mount and radar were found by locals the next morning hundreds of metres from the landing craft's mooring point.
As for the casualties among the Novocherkassk crew members, the official authorities on this matter, as usual in today's Russia, remain coldly silent to this day," he said.
Now the Russian Defense Ministry will have to figure out how the Ukrainians with Storm Shadows missiles managed to fly 500 kilometers over Crimea and the Black Sea with impunity.
"In short, the Storm Shadows missiles that struck Pheodosia on Tuesday, as it turned out, had a range twice that of the known examples of the same type of weapon that London had earlier delivered to Ukraine.
It is now clear that before, the Storm Shadows missiles could in no way attack Theodosia. They simply would not reach her. Sevastopol, yes.
Because, according to the tactical and technical characteristics published by NATO, they had a maximum flight range of up to 270 kilometers.
Meanwhile, from the line where the Storm Shadow was launched by the Ukrainian Su-24M bombers to the port where the Novocherkassk landing craft was anchored is at least twice as far.
The missiles also flew over the entire Crimea from northwest to southeast before reaching their target," he said.
This is simply a fact, and even on the day of the strike, Russian media had drawn attention to the question, how exactly had these missiles reached so far?
"Now the Russian Defense Ministry should understand how the enemy with new Storm Shadow missiles managed to fly 500 kilometers over Crimea and the Black Sea with impunity."
An analysis of what happened on the night of 26 December shows that Ukraine was in fact given the original version of the Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG, which has a range of up to 560 km.
This type of missile is available only for the equipment of certain NATO countries," the expert continued.
So what threatens the Black Sea Fleet as a whole with a new attack of this kind?
The threat is that there is almost no naval base left where Russian ships could feel safe from new overwhelming attacks by Ukrainian high-precision cruise missiles.
Russian naval expert Vladimir Petrovich said: "I am very sad that the security and defence system of the fleet and its bases is at such a low level. I know who brought it to this state. But I want to ask a question, why is the defence system of the port, including the fleet, not clearly organised?
We have all the forces and means for that, fighter jets, a surveillance system, we have AWACS.
Balloons could be placed to armour the ships.
I am saddened by this whole issue of not being able to maintain the fleet effectively. Crimea is a frontline area. And you must act here as on the front line.
There are many questions about the air defense system over Crimea.
The Novocherkassk tragedy, and even earlier, and the two already reported autumn tragedies of Sevastopol, which were related to completely unpunished raids by Ukrainian Storm Shadow missiles on the facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, showed what needs to be done.
The integration of the latest Russian S-500 Prometheus air defence systems into the Crimean air defence system is required.
So far we have had S-400 "Triumph", "Buk", "Thor" and "Pantsir-S", the regiments of which have long been guarding the skies of Taurida with varying degrees of success.
This would give us many additional advantages in combating enemy air attacks in these parts.
But here we are talking first and foremost, with high-precision cruise missiles, which are such a nuisance to our fleet, and they want the SUPPLIER," he concluded.
The bottom line is that the Russians were surprised by the presence of 560 km range missiles in the hands of the Ukrainians, which is why they blamed the US-UK on this issue.
