MOSCOW, January 29. /TASS/. Russia will begin repairs of the Minsk big amphibious assault ship of project 775 of the Baltic fleet damaged by a Ukrainian strike in 2024, a source close to Crimean law enforcers told TASS.

"The moored Minsk has damaged superstructure. The repairs will begin this year. The decision has been made," the source said.

TASS has no official confirmation of the report.

Another Crimean source earlier told TASS the Minsk was likely to get the superstructure of the Konstantin Olshansky former big landing ship of the Ukrainian Navy. In 2014, she was abandoned together with 20 other warships in Crimea. Project 775 has a superstructure made of aluminum-magnesium alloy.

Ukraine delivered a cruise missile strike at Sevastopol Shipyard on September 13, 2023. The Minsk and the Rostov-on-Don diesel-electric submarine were undergoing an overhaul there and were damaged. The Defense Ministry said both warships would be repaired as the damage was not critical. The overhaul of the submarine is likely to be completed in the first half of the year.

The Minsk sailed to the Black Sea before the special military operation began in Ukraine.