''Donbas'' () was a Project 304 (

NATO reporting name NATO uses a system of code names, called reporting names, to denote military aircraft and other equipment used by post-Soviet states, former Warsaw Pact countries, China, and other countries. The system assists military communications by providi ...

: Amur) former Soviet

repair ship A repair ship is a naval auxiliary ship designed to provide maintenance support to warships. Repair ships provide similar services to destroyer, submarine and seaplane tenders or depot ships, but may offer a broader range of repair capability incl ...

that was converted to a

command ship Command ships serve as the flagships of the commander of a fleet. They provide communications, office space, and accommodations for a fleet commander and their staff, and serve to coordinate fleet activities. An auxiliary command ship feature ...

of the

Ukrainian Navy The Ukrainian Navy (), is the Navy, maritime force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, service branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The naval forces consist of five components: surface forces, submarine forces, Ukrainian Naval ...

's 9th Division. She was built on

Szczecin Shipyard Szczecin Shipyard or New Szczecin Shipyard (Polish: ''Stocznia Szczecińska Nowa'') was a shipyard in the city of Szczecin, Poland. Formerly known as ''Stocznia Szczecińska Porta Holding S.A.'' (until 2002) or ''Stocznia im. Adolfa Warskiego' ...

in Poland in 1969 for the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

and entitled ''PM-9''. "PM" is a Russian abbreviation for a repair ship (, ''Plavuchaya masterskaya''), and literally means a floating repair shop. ''Donbas'' was destroyed during the

Siege of Mariupol The siege of Mariupol began on 24 February 2022 and lasted until 20 May, as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It saw fighting between the Russian Armed Forces (alongside the Donetsk People's Republic People's Militia) and the Ukrainian ...

as a part of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Service history

The ships of this company were considered the most durable, they were actively applied in military campaigns since the early 1970s. As a result of the distribution of the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

, ''PM-9'' changed her name to ''Krasnodon''. In 2001, she was renamed the ''Donbas''. During her service in the Ukrainian Navy, the ship has repeatedly participated in international exercises, as well as in local military parades and cruises. On 11 November 2007, the ship was caught in a hurricane near

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

, but suffered minor injuries and remained intact due to the assistance of the Russian tug ''MB-160''. The ship ''Donbas'' marked her fourth decade of naval service on 4 December 2009. On this occasion, the

Ministry of Defence of Ukraine The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine () is the ministry of the Ukrainian government that oversees national defence and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The head of the ministry is the Minister of Defence. The President of Ukraine is the Supreme Com ...

allocated on 6 December 2010 around ₴4 million for the ship reconstruction. On 25 January 2011, she successfully passed the first stage of sea trials. On 20 March 2014, the ship was captured by the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

during the annexation of Crimea. On 17 April 2014, she was released by Russia and transported from Sevastopol to

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

by the Ukrainian tug ''Hennadiy Savelyev''. On 27 September 2014, with the

war in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

at its height, ''Donbas'' shot down a pro-Russian drone while sailing off Mariupol. On 4 September 2016, the ship was damaged by fire at Odesa. The search and rescue vessel ''Donbas'' and the sea tug got underway from Odesa on 20 September 2018 and transited the

Kerch Strait The Kerch Strait is a strait in Eastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west from the Taman Peninsula of Russia's Krasnodar Krai in the east. The strait is to wide and up ...

on 23 September, escorted by a number of Russian Navy units. Ukrainian Navy s and got underway from the port of

Berdyansk Berdiansk or Berdyansk (, ; , ) is a port city in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, which is connected to the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Berdiansk Raion. The ...

to meet the two vessels as they entered the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...

. Ukrainian President

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

congratulated the crews of the two ships on a successful transit on his

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page, adding that they would become part of a newly created base in the Sea of Azov. "The rescue ship ''Donbas'' and the tugboat ''Korets'' have arrived in

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

. Two small armored gunboats, the ''Kremenchuk'' and the ''Lubny'' hich were previously redeployed to the Azov Sea and set out to meet the other two ships on 23 Septemberarrived together with them," as stated at the Ukrainian Military Portal. Satellite images published on 6 April 2022 show the ''Donbas'' being engulfed in heavy smoke in the

port of Mariupol The Port of Mariupol or Mariupol Sea Port () is located in Mariupol, Ukraine in the Taganrog Bay, Sea of Azov. The port is governed by the port authority managed by Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority. As of June 2022, it is occupied by Russian armed f ...

, indicating the ship was likely hit. On 16 April 2022, Ukrainian Defence Ministry confirmed the ship was destroyed, purportedly by artillery fire, during the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donbas 1969 ships Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation Auxiliary ships of the Soviet Navy Cold War auxiliary ships Maritime incidents in 2016 Naval ships built in Poland for export Ships built in Szczecin Ships involved in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ships involved in the Russo-Ukrainian War Shipwrecks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ships of the Ukrainian Navy Siege of Mariupol April 2022 in Ukraine 2022 disasters in Ukraine

Service history

See also

References