The Ukrainian Navy Still Has One Big Amphibious Ship. She’d Be Pretty Useful Right About Now.

There might be just one big ship left in the Ukrainian navy—the amphibious landing vessel Yuri Olefirenko.

She might be old and ugly and crude, but it’s possible Yuri Olefirenko is playing an important role in arguably the most important Ukrainian offensive operation in the aftermath of the mid-November liberation of Kherson.

Assuming she’s still afloat—and there’s recent evidence she is—Yuri Olefirenko is in a position to support the ongoing Ukrainian amphibious operation on the Kinburn Spit, a three-mile finger of sand and scrub curling south to north across the mouth of the Dnipro River.

The spit is important for two reasons. Whoever holds it can control ship traffic between the Black Sea and the ports of Kherson and Mykolaiv. The spit and the adjacent Kinburn Peninsula also are a way for Ukrainian forces to get into southern Kherson Oblast without crossing the wide Dnipro River while under fire from Russian forces on the left bank.

The Ukrainians liberated Kherson City on Nov. 11. Within days there were rumors Ukrainian commandos had landed on the Kinburn. On Monday, Ukrainian officials confirmed their forces were on the spit.

It’s not totally clear exactly how the commandos reached the spit. There’s some visual evidence of Ukrainian special operations forces riding in rigid-hull inflatable boats. RHIBs would make sense in this context, as the forces are light and the trip—just three miles from the settlement of Ochakiv on the Dnipro’s right bank—is short.

But it’s worth noting that Yuri Olefirenko was in the area as recently as Nov. 3. Infrared video, apparently shot at night, depicts the crew of the 267-foot, 1,200-ton Project 773 amphibious vessel launching unguided rockets from the ship’s deck toward Russian positions.

The 52-year-old Yuri Olefirenko was one of a pair of large warships that comprised most of the Ukrainian navy’s front-line strength on the day Russia widened its war on Ukraine back in late February.

The other big ship, the frigate Hetman Sahaidachny, at the time was in Odesa, on the western Black Sea. Hetman Sahaidachny’s crew scuttled the frigate rather than risk her falling into Russian hands in the event the Russians captured Odesa.

They didn’t even try, of course, but there was no recovering the waterlogged Hetman Sahaidachny. Without the frigate, the Ukrainian navy was down to just one big ship—a lightly armed one, at that.

By June, Yuri Olefirenko was in the waters around Ochakiv. These were familiar waters for the ship’s 40 or so crew. Yuri Olefirenko had sailed from Ochakiv for pre-war exercises.

Russian forces made at least one go at the landing ship. In June, a Russian operator pinpointed Yuri Olefirenko off Ochakiv. The Ukrainian sailors took evasive action as at least 16 Russian artillery shells rained down. The aging vessel not only survived the attack, five months she struck back at the Russians with her deck-mounted WM-18 rockets.

There’s no hard evidence Yuri Olefirenko is supporting the Kinburn Spit operation. But it’s worth noting that she’s been off Ochakiv, just a few miles from Kinburn, for much of the wider war. It’s also worth noting that Yuri Olefirenko is perfect for the Kinburn op.

A 20-foot rigid-hull inflatable boat is fine for landing a few troops. But landing scores of troops as well as their heavy weaponry, a few vehicles and tons of supplies—that’s a job only a landing ship like Yuri Olefirenko can handle.

Yes, a big, slow, 1970s-vintage amphibious ship is vulnerable to enemy artillery and aircraft. But if the Russians couldn’t sink Yuri Olefirenko back in the spring or summer when Russian troops had the advantage at sea, in the air and on the ground, they might struggle to do so now that the Ukrainians have the advantage.