Ukraine struck a large Russian landing warship in Crimea with cruise missiles in an overnight attack that killed at least one person and could hinder any Russian attempt to seize more Ukrainian territory along the Black Sea coast.
The Russian defence ministry, cited by the Interfax news agency, said Ukraine had used air-launched missiles to attack the Crimean port of Feodosia and that the Novocherkassk large landing ship had been damaged.
A dormant North Korean port near the border with Russia has sprung back to life, fuelling what experts say is a burgeoning trade in arms destined for the frontlines in Ukraine that is simultaneously bolstering the anemic economy managed by Kim Jong Un.
Satellite imagery of the Najin port taken from October to December shows a steady stream of ships at the facility, hundreds of shipping containers being loaded and unloaded, and rail cars ready to transport goods.
A safety notice to draw lessons learned from a recent marine casualty involving a shipboard crane, which occurred while a 69-ton wind turbine nacelle was being offloaded.
While hoisting, a wire rope parted, causing the load to fall eight feet to the deck, significantly damaging the vessel and resulting in a total loss of the cargo. Although no personnel casualties occurred, injury potential was high, as the load landed within three feet of workers.
Russia reported on Monday, December 25th, that emergency crews successfully extinguished a fire on the Sevmorput, a Soviet-era nuclear-powered cargo-icebreaker ship docked in Murmansk.