Russian Frigate Sunk: Putin Quite Upset.

JOHN VARGA for the UK Express, reports, May 7, 2022:

“...that a Russian navy frigate [Admiral Makarov] has been hit by Ukrainian Neptunemissiles.

[Russian frigate] Admiral Makarov is said to have been struck by anti-ship missiles while it was in waters off the coast of Odessa. Rescue ships and aircraft have reportedly been sent to the area and are being tracked by US surveillance drones. "OSINTdefender", an open source intelligence monitor, tweeted: "It’s seeming more and more likely that the claims about the Russian Frigate Admiral Makarov being stuck by Ukrainian Anti-Ship Missiles off the Coast of Odessa are true.

"Multiple rescue ships and aircraft are reportedly in the area with U.S surveillance drones keeping eyes on it."

Social media user "UOI", a war analyst, wrote: "Sources say the Russian frigate was hit by a Neptune missile and is on fire near Snake Island."

Neither the Russian or Ukrainian officials have as yet officially confirmed that the Russian frigate was hit.

If the reports are confirmed, this would represent another humiliating blow for Vladimir Putin and his naval high command.

Last month, the flagship of the Black Sea, the Moskva [see SubMatt's article] , was sunk after being hit by Neptune missiles fired by the Ukrainian army.

The [125m long, 4,000 tonne] Admiral Makarov is one of the most important ships at the disposal of the Russian Black Sea fleet.

It belongs to the Admiral Grigorovich-class of frigates and boasts impressive and powerful defence systems.

The frigate is armed with 24 Buk medium-range surface-to-air missiles and eight Kalibr cruise missiles, all in vertical cells.

It is one of three such frigates in the possession of the Russian Black Sea fleet.

The Admiral Markov was commissioned in 2017 and is the most modern vessel in her class, and as such was a prime target for the Ukrainian army.

The frigate is fairly small in comparison to other warships, and has a crew of just 200 hundred.

The Russian naval high command appeared to be trying to keep the frigate safe, by ordering it to stay at least 100 miles away from the Ukrainian coastline.

However, this compromised its ability to provide defensive cover to other Russian vessels and a military garrison on Snake Island.

The Russian garrison was attacked last week by Ukrainian operated TB-2 drones, which took out air-defence systems on the island.

Afterwards the drones fired laser-guided missiles at two Russian Raptor-class patrol boats, that came to the aid of the Russian garrison.

David Axe, a US military correspondent for Forbes, said: "Without the protection of a frigate, the Raptors were sitting ducks."