RIGHT SPEAK: RU Missile Ship Serpukhov on Fire in 'NATO Lake'; UKR Intel Operation Linked to Fire on RU Missile Ship Serpukhov; UKR’s ‘Mad Max’ Trawls Swamps/ Minefields for Shells; Bridge Collapses Onto Railway Tracks in RU; 48 C-Clashes; RU Loses: 40 Art-Sys, 13 Tanks, 890 Sold-1Day; 17 RU Drones Downed, LIVE UPDATES and LOTS MORE

Russian Missile Ship on Fire in 'NATO Lake': Report:

Russia's Serpukhov small missile ship was significantly damaged by a fire on Sunday in the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad, according to an anonymous Ukrainian security source cited by RBC Ukraine on Monday.

A Kyiv Post report attributed the incident to a Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) operation, citing an unnamed security services source. "Repairs will take a long time," the source said.

The HUR later claimed responsibility for the fire, posting a video to its Telegram channel purporting to show the setting of a fire inside the Serpukhov and claiming that the vessel had been "disabled." The post added: "Due to the fire inside the rocket ship, its means of communication and automation were completely destroyed."

Newsweek has not been able to corroborate the report independently and has contacted the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries by email to request comment.

The Buyan-M class corvette incorporates stealth technology and has a vertical launching system for either Kalibr or Oniks anti-ship cruise missiles, both munitions that have been used in Moscow's nationwide bombardment of Ukraine. The Buyan-M class is designed to operate in relatively shallow coastal regions or inland waterways.

The Serpukhov launched Kalibr missile strikes against Islamist militants in Syria from the Mediterranean Sea in 2016, before being deployed to the Baltic Sea area later that year.

In September 2023 the Russian state media reported that the Serpukhov performed a successful launch of a cruise Kalibr missile in the White Sea, successfully hitting a "coastal target."

The Baltic Sea is emerging as a key area of Russian-NATO competition in a new era of tension between the traditional rivals. The Kaliningrad exclave is a key Russian outpost in the Baltic Sea, and hosts significant conventional military strength as well as electronic warfare equipment and possibly nuclear weapons. --->READ MORE HERE

Ukrainian intelligence operation linked to fire on Russian missile ship Serpukhov in Kaliningrad:

A small missile ship named "Serpukhov" caught fire in the Kaliningrad region during a special operation by Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate, reported the public broadcaster Suspilne, citing sources within the Ukrainian intelligence services.

According to the source, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine conducted a special operation in the Kaliningrad region. Notably, on April 7, the ship Serpukhov of Project 21631 caught fire at the Baltiysk naval base. This vessel is the fifth ship in the series.

The Serpukhov was launched on April 3, 2015. Later that year, the ship arrived at the homeport of the Black Sea Fleet in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol in Crimea. Also in 2015, the ship was officially commissioned into the 41st Missile Boat Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet.

The Serpukhov is equipped with the 3S14 vertical launching system for eight Oniks missiles, with the future potential to house Zircon and Kalibr missiles. The ship can strike targets up to 1,500 kilometers away, although some reports suggest a range of up to 2,000 kilometers.

On April 3, the pro-Ukrainian partisan movement "Atesh" reported Russia had relocated a significant part of its ships from the temporarily occupied Crimea to Novorossiysk. In addition, the underground movement detected several cargo ships in the Tsemes Bay. --->READ MORE HERE