A small Russian Shark landing ship has reportedly been spotted around southern Crimea, as Ukraine maintains pressure on key parts of Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet stationed around the annexed peninsula.

The Soviet-era landing craft Project 1176 – also known as Akula, or shark – was spotted near the Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol, a local Telegram channel reported on Tuesday.

The report did not provide further details on when the sighting occurred around the port city, which has been under Russian control since the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Moscow’s influence in Crimea is not recognized by the international community.

@paolobucci18 shared a picture of the Shark on X (formerly Twitter) and identified it as a Project 1176 landing craft.

Newsweek could not independently verify the report and has asked the Russian Defense Ministry for comment by email.

While the Ukrainian Navy lacks large warships, it is working with other branches of the Kiev military and intelligence services to threaten Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. It has vowed to retake Crimea and has targeted Black Sea Fleet ships and facilities to hamper Moscow’s ability to use the peninsula to launch attacks on the mainland.

Kyiv has deployed Russian naval drones, unmanned aerial vehicles and long-range missiles against Russia on the peninsula as well as against the Kremlin’s forces stationed on the Russian mainland at the Novorossiysk base.

Kiev has succeeded in forcing the Black Sea Fleet to largely withdraw its main base in the eastern Black Sea, Sevastopol.

Moscow has moved many of its ships toward its Novorossiysk base, and satellite images suggest Russia is building another Black Sea base in Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia.

The British Ministry of Defence said late last month that at least 26 Russian Navy ships had been damaged or destroyed in the Black Sea region between February 2022 and June 2024.

The Ukrainian military intelligence service GUR announced back in November 2023 that its naval drones had sunk a Project 1176 and another small landing craft near the coast of Crimea. The service stated that the drones were hit near the western coast of Crimea.

Moscow has a handful of Project 1176 landing craft and several other types of landing ships that are repeatedly targeted by Ukraine.

Last year, the Kiev military reported a series of successful attacks on a number of large Russian landing ships, including the Jamal and the Azov in March and on Caesar Kunikow Mid-February, and the Novocherkassk End of December 2023.