Russians delivered the “Olenegorsky Gornyak” landing ship to the dry dock

9 August, 2023 LHD "Olenegorsky Gornyak" in the dry dock in Novorossiysk, August 8, 2023. Photo credits: EarthCache satellite image. The damaged Russian Project 775 "Olenegorsky Gornyak" large landing ship was brought to the dry dock.

OSINT analyst MT Anderson reported this on his social media page, citing satellite images. A Russian landing ship hit by an unmanned drone on August 4 was towed to the port in Novorossiysk in a semi-submerged state the same day. Due to a large roll on the punctured port side, the ship stayed near one of the berths for several days.

The ship was propped up by other ships to prevent it from capsizing. Anderson reported that on August 8, the ship arrived in tow at the dry dock north of the sea berths in Novorossiysk. At the time of the satellite footage (10:43 am), the ship had already entered the dock, and water was pumped out of it.

Presumably, the Russian specialists are now assessing the damage to the ship and studying the possibilities and feasibility of its repair.

LHD "Olenegorsky Gornyak" being towed to Novorossiysk, August 4, 2023

According to some reports, the damage from the strike was to the ship's engine room. This may explain the ship's headway after the drone hit. The potential repair of the Project 775 ships is complicated due to the fact that they were produced by the Polish shipyard Stocznia Polnocna (today - Remontowa Shipbuilding), located in Gdansk.

Therefore, Russia does not have access to spare parts. However, it is still possible to repair the damaged vessel by disassembling other ships of the same project for spare parts.

"Olenegorsky Gornyak" landing ship of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy. Photo from open sources

"Olenegorsky Gornyak" is part of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy.

However, in preparation for the amphibious operation before the start of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it was deployed to reinforce the Black Sea Fleet. The Black Sea Fleet also has four Project 775 large landing ships: Caesar Kunikov (pennant number 158), Novocherkassk (142), Yamal (156), and Azov (151). Novocherkassk is currently under repairs in Sevastopol after suffering damage from a Ukrainian missile attack on the port of Berdiansk.

Caesar Kunikov, also previously damaged in Berdiansk, left the plant on May 14 after repair and painting works.