''Donbas'' ( uk, Донбас) was a Project 304 (

NATO reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...

: Amur) former Soviet repair ship that was converted to a

command ship Command ships serve as the flagships of the commander of a fleet. They provide communications, office space, and accommodations for a fleet commander and their staff, and serve to coordinate fleet activities. An auxiliary command ship features ...

of the Ukrainian Navy. She was built on

Szczecin Shipyard Szczecin Shipyard or New Szczecin Shipyard (Polish: ''Stocznia Szczecińska Nowa'') was a shipyard in the city of Szczecin, Poland. Formerly known as ''Stocznia Szczecińska Porta Holding S.A.'' (until 2002) or ''Stocznia im. Adolfa Warskiego'' ...

in Poland in 1969 for the Soviet Navy and entitled ''PM-9''. "PM" is a Russian abbreviation for a repair ship (russian: Плавучая мастерская, ''Plavuchaya masterskaya''), and literally means a floating repair shop. ''Donbas'' was destroyed during the

Siege of Mariupol The siege of Mariupol began on 24 February 2022 and lasted until 20 May 2022, as part of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It saw fighting between the Russian Armed Forces (alongside the Donetsk People's Militia) and the Ukrainian Armed F ...

as a part of 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 ...

Service history

The ships of this company were considered the most durable, they were actively applied in military campaigns since the early 1970s. As a result of the distribution 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, ...

, ''PM-9'' changed her name to ''Krasnodon''. In 2001, she was renamed the ''Donbas''. During her service in the Ukrainian Navy, the ship has repeatedly participated in international exercises, as well as in local military parades and cruises. On 11 November 2007, the ship was caught in a hurricane near Sevastopol, but suffered minor injuries and remained intact due to the assistance of the Russian tug ''MB-160''. The ship ''Donbas'' marked her fourth decade of naval service on 4 December 2009. On this occasion, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine allocated on 6 December 2010 around 4 million UAH for the ship reconstruction. On 25 January 2011, she successfully passed the first stage of sea trials. On 20 March 2014, the ship was captured by the Russian Navy during the Crimean crisis. On 17 April 2014, she was transported from Sevastopol to

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

by the Ukrainian tug ''Hennadiy Savelyev''. On 27 September 2014, with the war in Donbas at its height, ''Donbas'' shot down a pro-Russian drone while sailing off Mariupol. On 4 September 2016, the ship was damaged by fire at Odessa. The search and rescue vessel ''Donbas'' and the sea tug got underway from Odessa on 20 September 2018 and transited the Kerch Strait on 23 September, escorted by a number of Russian Navy units. Ukrainian Navy s and got underway from the port of Berdyansk to meet the two vessels as they entered the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...

. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko congratulated the crews of the two ships on a successful transit on his Facebook page, adding that they would become part of a newly created base in the Sea of Azov. "The rescue ship ''Donbas'' and the tugboat ''Korets'' have arrived in Mariupol. Two small armored gunboats, the ''Kremenchuk'' and the ''Lubny'' hich were previously redeployed to the Azov Sea and set out to meet the other two ships on 23 Septemberarrived together with them," as stated at the Ukrainian Military Portal. Satellite images published on 6 April 2022 show the ''Donbas'' being engulfed in heavy smoke in the

port of Mariupol The Port of Mariupol or Mariupol Sea Port ( uk, Маріупольський морський порт) is located in Mariupol, Ukraine in the Taganrog Bay, Sea of Azov. The port is governed by the port authority managed by Ukrainian Sea Ports Au ...

, indicating the ship was likely hit. On 16 April 2022, Ukrainian Defence Ministry confirmed the ship was destroyed during the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donbas 1969 ships Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation Auxiliary ships of the Soviet Navy Cold War auxiliary ships Maritime incidents in 2016 Naval ships built in Poland for export Ships built in Szczecin Ships involved in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ships involved in the Russo-Ukrainian War Shipwrecks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ships of the Ukrainian Navy

Service history

See also

References