In the port of Berdyansk, the Russian sunken large landing ship (BDK) "Saratov" was raised. This was announced by Vladimir Rogov, a member of the “military-civilian administration” of the Zaporozhye region established by Russia in the Telegram channel.

According to him, the ship was damaged on March 24 as a result of shelling with Tochka-U ballistic missiles and was deliberately sunk due to a fire. This is the first time that a message about the strike has been heard from the Russian side.

“ Today, in the port of Berdyansk, an operation was carried out to raise the sunken large landing ship Saratov of Project 1171 Tapir. The ship was damaged as a result of the shelling of the port on March 24 by Zelensky militants with Tochka-U ballistic missiles. The flooding of the BDK was carried out by the crew in order to avoid the detonation of the ammunition on board in the conditions of the fire that had begun .

On March 24, photos and videos of a fire on the pier, where large landing ships were being unloaded, began to appear on the network. The Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that a large landing ship of the Black Sea Fleet was destroyed in the Russian-occupied port of Berdyansk, the fire spread to other ships, fuel and ammunition. As Ukrayinska Pravda reported , at first it was claimed that the Orsk ship had been sunk, but in the evening the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the destruction of the Saratov large landing craft. The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment on the information at that time.