UKRAINE claim they bribed a Russian navy captain for the location of Vladimir Putin’s newest warship before blitzing it.
The extraordinary claim was made on Thursday and details how the former spy’s £88million vessel was destroyed by Ukrainian missiles.
Russian naval captain Alexander Ermolenko (right), 39, was allegedly bribed for the location of Vladimir Putin’s newest warship before it was blitzed by UkraineEast2West
East2WestVideo showed three strikes on the Askold – the most modern warship in the Kremlin’s Black Sea Fleet – last weekend.[/caption]
East2WestThe moment Russia’s £88million vessel was hit by Ukrainian missiles[/caption]
Video showed three strikes on the Askold – the most modern warship in the Kremlin’s Black Sea Fleet – last weekend.
The small missile ship is reported to be damaged beyond repair.
Now Ukrainian Telegram channels have claimed that a Russian captain sold Kyiv information via a social media messenger on the location of the vessel in a shipyard in Kerch, in the east of annexed Crimea.
The captain was named as 39-year-old Alexander Ermolenko, commander of the Buyan-M class guided missile corvette Ingushetia 630.
He is alleged to have haggled to get the price up from $1,000 (£815) to $1,500 (£1,220).
However, neither he nor the Russian authorities has responded to the allegation.
Both party’s have also failed to comment on the claim about the social media messages in which Ermolenko provided the coordinates of the Zaliv shipyard, also known as Butoma.
Born in Sevastopol, Crimea, Ermolenko is listed as a “war criminal” by Ukraine.
It’s reported that his vessel has been used to fire powerful Kalibr at targets in Ukraine during the war.
Telegram channels Russian Soldiers and Crimean Wind did not explain how – if true – the Black Sea Fleet captain came to be communicating with Ukrainian agents.
As he allegedly haggles on a text chat, the “captain” says, referring to a payment in US dollars: “It’s not enough. If I have to risk for 1000, it’s not enough.
“Give 500 more and I’ll give you the information.”
The text message then says: ‘Either we do it like this or we don’t do it.”
Supposedly referring to the 197ft-long Askold, he tells his Ukrainian handler: “It’s here – when do you plan to ‘work’ on it…?
“Don’t wait too long, they might move it to another place.
“I guarantee only where it is right now.”
It’s not yet clear if Ermolenko is being investigated in Russia
His wife Viktoria, 39, is from the Kharkiv region in Ukraine and they share two children together.
The Askold will be unable to go “on combat duty in the near future,” according to Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson of Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command.
“The blow was powerful,” she said.
The Askold was a Project 22800 Karakurt warship.
The Ukrainian media used the claims widely today, naming Captain Ermolenko as the bribed suspect.
Ermolenko is commander of the Buyan-M class guided missile corvette Ingushetia 630 and listed as a ‘war criminal’ by UkraineEast2West