Russia Bragged About Berdyansk Days Before Ukraine Claimed to Destroy Ship

Military officials in Ukraine recently claimed to destroy a Russian landing ship, just a few days after Russia bragged about docking the ship at the port of Berdyansk.

On Thursday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense wrote on Twitter that "The large landing ship Orsk of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian occupiers was temporarily destroyed in the Russian-occupied port of Berdyansk."

The tweet also showed pictures of what appeared to be the Russian Orsk ship in flames.

The claims made by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense come just a few days after Russian military officials bragged about taking the port of Berdyansk and docking the Orsk ship.

According to Reuters, Russian military officials announced that the Orsk ship was docked in the port on Monday. Reuters reported that Zvezda, a Russian state-owned news site, that is run by the country's Ministry of Defense, said, "It is hard to overestimate the possibilities of using this port."

The Russian state-run news outlet, RT, also bragged about military forces occupying the port in a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday.

"By land, air and now sea, Russian troops continue to advance and reinforce into Ukraine," RT reporter Murad Gazdiev can be heard saying in the video. "The Azov Sea, with its ports and towns, is now under Russian control...which has allowed Russia's Black Sea fleet to and the Orsk landing ship to stage this operation."

Gazdiev continued, "The point of this ship is to transport troops and heavy equipment. It can fit as many as 20 tanks or 40 armored personnel carriers, along with hundreds upon hundreds of troops."

Shortly after Ukraine's Ministry of Defense claimed that it had destroyed the Orsk ship, Reuters reported that they obtained video footage of the attack and were able to confirm that it was taken at the Berdyansk port. However, Reuters said that it was unable to confirm that the video footage showed that the Orsk was the ship attacked.

While speaking during a video briefing on Thursday, Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister, Hanna Malyar said "yes, it's destroyed," when asked about the Orsk.

In a statement obtained by the New York Times, Malyar said, "This is a huge target that was hit by our military."

Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Over the past several weeks, fighting has continued to rage between Ukraine and Russia, after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation."

Western countries, such as the U.S. have continued to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and recently have warned of a potential chemical attack by Russia.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.