PUTIN has had another of his warships destroyed in a missile strike on a Crimea shipyard, Ukraine claims.
The loss comes as Russia staged a test launch of a ballistic missile from the country's new submarine.
The downed vessel has been named as the newly-built Askold missile ship, one of the most modern in the Russian naval fleet.
Moscow has admitted to losing a ship in an attack by 13 cruise missiles, but not which one.
Footage showed the strike hit Butoma shipyard in Kerch, close to Putin’s major bridge linking the annexed peninsula to Russia.
"I hope another ship has followed the Moskva,” said commander of Ukraine's Air Force, Mykola Oleshchuk, referring to the Russian Black Sea Fleet flagship sunk by Ukrainian missiles on April 14, 2022.
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Ukrainian sources later indicated the destroyed vessel was the Kalibr-missile carrying 197ft-long Askold, which was poised to enter service, or one of two others of the same Karakurt class.
Some accounts say it was struck three times by the French version of the Storm Shadow missile.
“The ship has not even taken part in sailing or combat yet – it was undergoing some final testing work, so that it could then go to sea and fight against our state,” said Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ignat.
The Askold is a Project 22800 Karakurt warship, and three are being built at the Russian-occupied shipyard.
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Some accounts say the Askold had moved to Novorossiysk, like many Russian Black Sea warships, further from Ukraine’s missile range.
The other two being built in Kerch are the Amur and Cyclone, and like the Askold were due in service this year.
The Russian defence ministry admitted the loss.
“Air defence systems shot down 13 cruise missiles. As a result of a cruise missile hit, a ship at the yard was damaged,” said a statement.
The loss comes as footage emerged of a Russian test launch of a Bulava nuclear-capable sea-based intercontinental missile.
The launch was from the White Sea by Russia's new nuclear-powered submarine Imperator Alexander III.
"Firing a ballistic missile is the final element of state tests, after which a decision will be made to accept the cruiser into the Navy,” said a defence ministry statement.
It hit a target nine time zones away close to the Pacific Ocean.
The 40ft Bulava missile, with an estimated 5,000 mile range, can carry up to six nuclear warheads.
It has become the cornerstone in the naval part of Russia's nuclear triad.
The Sevastopol headquarters of Putin's Black Sea Fleet was destroyed in a missile strike on 22 September.
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Nine days earlier Ukrainian missiles hit the £250 million Kilo-class attack submarine Rostov-on-Don and large landing ship Minsk in a repair shipyard in naval port Sevastopol.
Multiple warships have been damaged, the most embarrassing for Putin being the Moskva frigate – Black Sea Fleet flagship – which was sunk in a strike by Ukrainian Neptune missiles.
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