kyiv claimed the Russian destroyer Admiral Levchenko was on fire, but Severomorsk says it was only training with hypersonic missiles.

Little is known about what actually happened with the 36-year-old Udaloy-class ship during a recent exercise in the Barents Sea.

According to Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesman for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a serious fire broke out in the ship's engine compartment.

“The fight for survival continues, we hope it will be useless,” he wrote on his Facebook page on June 10.

The Northern Fleet's press service has not issued any official comments on the situation, and heavily censored regional media have remained silent.

Three days after the alleged fire, the Northern Fleet newspaper Na Strazhe Zapolyare published a photo of a ship that resembles the Admiral Levchenko. The photo shows no visible damage. It is taken under the Arctic midnight sun and is accompanied by a short text that reads “A golden night in June”.

Interestingly, the photo shows the ship without its pennant number (605), which is normally visible on the ship's sides, indicating that it was either repainted or erased by photo editors.

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On June 26, 16 days after the reported incident, the Northern Fleet issued a press release regarding the destroyer.

Depending on the fleet, the Admiral Levchenko The ship took part in an air defense exercise in the Barents Sea. During training, artillery systems and Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missile systems were used. Airdropped objects were used as aerial targets, the Navy informs in the newspaper Na Strazhe Zapolyare.

The ship is expected to undergo so-called anti-sabotage training before returning to base.

The press service does not provide any information on a possible fire and a photo does not show any damage. Additionally, this photo does not include the ship's flag number.

At the time of the alleged fire, Admiral Levchenko was sailing with her sister ship Vice Admiral Kulakov.

If it had occurred, the fire on board the warship could have had serious consequences. THE Admiral Levchenko is heavily armed with torpedoes and aerial missiles, as well as rocket launchers.

Including Kinzhal missiles.

The destroyer is 36 years old and normally has a crew of 200 to 300 sailors.