entered the exercise area, 30 miles off Donuzlav in Western Crimea, on April 24. On that day the Russian Navy base in Sevastopol ran an anti-ship missile exercise. The P-35 Progress missile that hit Vereshchagino was fired from a stationary launcher, operated by the Black Sea Fleet, on Cape Khersones; the missile itself and the crew which fired it actually belonged to the Baltic Fleet. The missile carried a dummy warhead. Russian sources did not disclose the intended target of the exercise. Instead of the target, the missile locked onto Vereshchagino and pierced through the middle of its superstructure, leaving telltale inverted-eight entry and exit holes and destroying the captain's quarters and the ship's radio shack. There was no fire. At the time of impact all crewmembers were dining in the mess, far from impact point, and survived imminent death. One seaman was injured by splinters. The Vereshchagino incident occurred shortly after two other incidents with post-Soviet missiles. On April 20, an OTR-21 Tochka missile, fired during a routine exercise of Ukrainian armed forces, rammed an apartment block in Brovary, from its launch site. Three people were killed, five injured, around a hundred lost their homes. On April 21, a Russian missile crashed in Kazakhstan. References External links Photographs of Vereshchagino on shipspotters.com Ships built at Kuznya na Rybalskomu Ships of Ukraine 1978 ships Trawlers Maritime incidents in 2000 Non-combat naval accidents Passenger ships Ships built in the Soviet Union