Russian landing ship Minsk

	Minsk in 2011
History
Russia
Name	Minsk
Namesake	Minsk
Builder	Stocznia Północna, Gdańsk, Poland
Commissioned	30 May 1983
Fate	Damaged in a missile strike on 13 September 2023
General characteristics
Class and type	Ropucha-class landing ship
Displacement	2,768 long tons (2,812 t) standard; 4,012 long tons (4,076 t) full load;
Length	112.5 m (369 ft 1 in)
Beam	15.01 m (49 ft 3 in)
Draught	4.26 m (14 ft 0 in)
Ramps	Over bows and at stern
Installed power	3 × 750 kW (1,006 hp) diesel generators
Propulsion	2 × 9,600 hp (7,159 kW) Zgoda-Sulzer 16ZVB40/48 diesel engines
Speed	17.59 knots (32.58 km/h; 20.24 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph); 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph);
Endurance	30 days
Capacity	10 × main battle tanks and 340 troops or 12 × BTR APC and 340 troops or 3 × main battle tanks, 3 × 2S9 Nona-S SPG, 5 × MT-LB APC, 4 trucks and 313 troops or 500 tons of cargo
Complement	98
Armament	2 × AK-725 twin 57 mm (2.2 in) DP guns; 4 × 8 Strela 2 SAM launchers; 2 × 22 A-215 Grad-M rocket launchers;

Minsk (Russian: Минск) is a Ropucha-class landing ship of the Russian Navy. The ship was built in the Gdańsk Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland for the Soviet Navy, and was commissioned in 1983.^[1] Minsk is a part of the Russian Baltic Fleet. On 13 September 2023, the ship was damaged in a Ukrainian missile attack on Sevastopol Shipyard.^[2]

Role in the Russo-Ukraine War

Minsk was transferred to Sevastopol, travelling through the Dardanelles on 9 February 2022, as part of a fleet of six landing ships brought into the Black Sea on what Russia called exercises, whilst it denied preparing for an attack on Ukraine. At the time there was some speculation that Russia might make an amphibious attack on Ukraine.^[3]

Missile attack on Minsk

During 2023, a number of different attacks were made on the Russian fleet in Sevastopol, but Minsk remained in port. On 13 September 2023, Russian officials reported aerial and marine attacks on Sevastopol. They said that three naval drones had been destroyed but some cruise missiles had hit the dockyard causing fires and damage to Minsk and the Kilo-class submarine Rostov-na-Donu (B-237). Various sources reported that the attacks were made with the French and UK-supplied Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles launched from a Ukrainian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft.^[4]^[5] Based on open-source imagery, the UK Ministry of Defence has assessed that the vessel has "almost certainly been functionally destroyed" by the strike.^[6] Ukraine claimed the two ships were "likely damaged beyond repair", which the Russian government denied and stated they would be repaired and returned to full operational status.^[7]

The Ukrainians later also claimed that the strike killed 62 Russian personnel, and that many of them were aboard the ship because Minsk had been scheduled to depart on 14 September for combat duty.^[8]

References

^ ""Минск"". flot.com (in Russian). Retrieved 14 September 2023.
^ Balmforth, Tom (13 September 2023). "Ukraine says serious damage to Russian naval targets in Crimea attack". Reuters. Archived from the original on 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
^ "Ukraine crisis: Russia sends 6 landing warships to Black Sea". South China Morning Post. 9 February 2022. Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
^ Haynes, Deborah (15 September 2023). "Ukraine says bomber deployed British and French cruise missiles 'perfectly' in major attack on Russian navy". Sky News. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
^ Haynes, Deborah (13 September 2023). "British cruise missiles were used in significant Ukrainian attack on Russian submarine". Sky News. Archived from the original on 13 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
^ United Kingdom Ministry of Defence [@DefenceHQ] (15 September 2023). "Intelligence Update 15 September 2023" (Tweet). Retrieved 15 September 2023 – via Twitter.
^ Balmforth, Tom (14 September 2023). "Satellite images show damage to Russian naval vessels struck in Ukraine attack". Reuters. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
^ Evans, Angelica; Harward, Christina; Bailey, Riley; Hird, Karolina; Kagan, Frederick W. (25 September 2023). "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment September 25, 2023". Institute for the Study of War. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2023.