Watch | Ukraine says Russian warship Kaiser Kunikov was destroyed in Black Sea

Ukraine said on Wednesday it destroyed another Russian warship in the Black Sea, a key battlefield in the nearly two-year war.

The Ukrainian military said its troops, together with military intelligence, “destroyed” the Russian landing ship Kaiser Kunikov off the coast of the Crimean peninsula. In a video released by Ukraine’s military intelligence service, a large cloud of smoke and flames can be seen rising from what appears to be a ship.

The front lines remain stationary

While the land front has been quiet for more than a year, Ukraine claims to have put Russia on the defensive in the Black Sea, a key region for Ukrainian exports. “An enemy ship was attacked by a Magura V5 maritime strike drone near the temporarily occupied Crimean coast near the city of Alupka,” the statement said. Moscow said it shot down six Ukrainian drones over the strategic waters machine.

Crimea was annexed by Moscow in 2014 and the region has been widely targeted by Ukrainian drones and missiles since a counteroffensive began last summer. Ukraine says its attacks have disabled a third of Russia’s Black Sea warships since the invasion began, as it tries to protect its shipping lanes and prevent attacks from the sea.

Putin ceasefire proposal

Tuesday, news agency Reuters According to reports, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the war was rejected by the United States after being contacted by an intermediary. However, the report added that a U.S. source denied any official contact between the two sides and said Washington would not engage in negotiations that did not involve Ukraine.

Russian sources said Putin publicly and privately signaled to Washington in 2023 through intermediaries, including through Moscow’s Arab partners in the Middle East, that he was prepared to consider a ceasefire in Ukraine. The Russian president has reportedly proposed a freeze on the current conflict and is unwilling to give up any Russian-controlled Ukrainian territory.

(Institutional investment)