Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of Ukraine's air force said that the attack destroyed a Russian Navy vessel known as the landing Novocherkask ship.

Writing on the Telegram messaging app, he said: "And the fleet in Russia is getting smaller and smaller!

"Thanks to the Air Force pilots and everyone involved for the filigree work!"

It has not been possible to independently verify the Ukrainian claims although Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of Crimea, confirmed the attack and there was a fire in the town's port area.

Footage posted on several Russian news outlets showed powerful explosions and fires over the area, which has a population of around 69,000 people.

"All relevant emergency services are on site," Mr Aksyonov said, adding, "residents of several houses will be evacuated".

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He said the fires were put out promptly.

Trains from the port town were diverted, and street traffic was partially blocked as a result of the strike, the Russia-installed administration of Crimea said.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a move that was broadly condemned.

The area is strategically important territory on the Black Sea and as the war in Ukraine has gone on, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been clear that as Ukrainian troops have secured a more and more battlefield victories, his armed forces are aiming to retake it.

During the 22-month conflict, both Russia and Ukraine have often exaggerated the gains and losses they claim to have inflicted upon each other.