The names of the sailors who went missing on the “Novocherkassk” became known

The names of four sailors who served on the large amphibious ship “Novocherkassk” and are considered missing after the missile strike of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the port of Feodosia have become known. Relatives of servicemen cannot obtain information about their fate from the Ministry of Defense of Russia. This is reported by the Telegram channel “We can explain”.

Journalists found the names of the sailors in the Odnoklassniki social network. We are talking about 22-year-old Nikita Druzhinin and 26-year-old Vladyslav Lapko from Sevastopol, 25-year-old Vasylia Shevchenko from the Rostov region and 33-year-old Alexei Ushakov.

The sister of one of the sailors said in a comment for “We can explain” that the Ministry of Defense does not inform the relatives of the missing servicemen. Relatives of the sailors in their posts on social networks hope that they survived and can be in a coma in burn centers “under other people’s names.”

At the end of January, the death of one of the sailors of the large landing ship “Novocherkassk” was officially confirmed. On the website of the Pushkin Gymnasium from the Russian city of Shakhty (Rostov Region), information appeared on the senior sailor Igor Meshcheryakov, who graduated from this educational institution in 2017. “Since August 2021, he served in the 197th brigade of large landing ships of the Russian Navy, BDK Novocherkassk, with the rank of sailor,” the message says. It also states that Meshcheryakov died on December 26, 2023 – the day of the rocket attack on Feodosia – and notes that he was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.

On December 26, 2023, after the attack of Ukrainian forces on the port of Feodosia in the annexed Crimea, according to the Ukrainian side, the Russian landing ship “Novocherkassk” was destroyed. The Ministry of Defense of Russia recognized the fact of the attack on the ship. The Russian military department did not report any injuries or deaths. Satellite images and eyewitness accounts testify that the ship was actually destroyed.

A few advertisements of relatives of sailors who are trying to find their loved ones have appeared on the network. The mass media named several names, among them conscript sailors. According to the Astra telegram channel, 33 sailors of the “Novocherkassk” are missing, and there could be 77 of them on board. There are still no official data.