''Novocherkassk'' (BDK-46) is a of the Russian Navy. It is a part of the

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

and was damaged while in port during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

Description

''Novocherkassk'' has a displacement of , a length of , a beam of , and a draft of . It has two diesel engines which allow a maximum speed of , and a range of at . It is capable of carrying up to 500 tons of cargo and 225 embarked soldiers. It is armed with two AK-725 57 mm artillery mounts and two 122 mm multiple rocket launch systems.

History

''Novocherkassk'' took part in an operation with other

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

ships in anchoring off the coast of Gaza in November 2012. The ship movement was ostensibly to prepare to evacuate Russian citizens from Israel in case the

Israeli-Palestinian conflict Israelis ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵלִים‎, translit=Yīśrāʾēlīm; ar, الإسرائيليين, translit=al-ʾIsrāʾīliyyin) are the citizens and nationals of the State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Jew ...

there escalated. Other ships in the operation included ''

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

'' and . In 2015, ''Novocherkassk'' was a part of Black Sea Fleet exercises in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

which corresponded with a Russian buildup of military forces in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. The ship once again set out for Syria in March 2020, with sister landing ship and frigates and , in response to growing tensions with

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and a withdrawal of American troops from Syria. The ships' movement spurred concerns over the spread of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

virus from and to Russia. In March 2022, roughly a month into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, ''Novocherkassk'' was docked in the port of

Berdiansk Berdiansk or Berdyansk ( uk, Бердя́нськ, translit=Berdiansk, ; russian: Бердя́нск, translit=Berdyansk ) is a port city in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast (Oblast, province) in south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the ...

in southern Ukraine with several other Russian warships. Ukrainian shelling on 25 March damaged several Russian ships there, sinking ''Saratov'' and damaging ''Novocherkassk''. By June 2022, Russian state media outlet

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS (russian: Информацио́нное аге́нтство Росси́и ТАСС, translit=Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia), abbreviated TASS (russian: ТАСС, label=none) ...

claimed that ''Novocherkassk'' was one of twelve landing ships in the Black Sea that could launch an amphibious operation on Ukraine. However, ''Novocherkassk'' was not confirmed to be repaired and its status remained unknown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Novocherkassk Landing craft Ships of the Russian Navy Ships involved in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine 1987 ships Ropucha-class landing ships