"Any effort to return the submarine to service is likely to take many years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. There is a realistic possibility that the complex task of removing the wreckage from the dry docks will place them out of use for many months," according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
In their intelligence report, it was noted that several missiles struck the shipyard "Sevmorzavod" within the territory of the Sevastopol Naval Base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the morning of September 13th. The landing ship "Minsk" and the Kilo 636.3 project submarine "Rostov-on-Don" were damaged while undergoing maintenance in dry docks.
Despite the Russian Ministry of Defence downplaying the damage to the vessels, open-source evidence indicates the Minsk has almost certainly been functionally destroyed, while the Rostov has likely suffered catastrophic damage.
According to intelligence reports, there is a real possibility that the complex task of removing debris from the dry docks will render them inoperative for many months. This will pose a significant challenge to the Black Sea Fleet in terms of fleet technical support.
The loss of the submarine deprives the Russian Navy of one of its four submarines capable of carrying cruise missiles, which have played a crucial role in strikes against Ukraine and the projection of Russian force through the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean region.
