Dead and injured

Ukraine: Russian ship destroyed by drones

A Ukrainian warship in action on the Black Sea (archive image)

(Bild: APA/AFP/ANATOLII STEPANOV)

Ukraine has reportedly destroyed a Russian navy patrol boat in the Black Sea. The ship had already been hit before, but was only destroyed by the attack on Tuesday night. There were fatalities and injuries among the crew.

According to Andriy Yusov, spokesman for the Ukrainian military intelligence service HUR, it is "likely that some crew members could be evacuated". The Russian Ministry of Defense did not initially comment on the incident, but the sinking was unofficially confirmed in Moscow. The pro-Russian military blog Belorusski Silovik wrote that the ship had been destroyed. The report was also disseminated by the influential blog Rybar, which has close ties to the Moscow Ministry of Defense.

This video allegedly shows the patrol boat being hit:

Surface drones in the Kerch Strait
HUR had previously stated that Magura V5 surface drones had hit the ship Sergei Kotov near the Kerch Strait, causing "sustained damage to the stern, starboard and port sides". The strategically important waterway between the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, and the Taman peninsula in southern Russia has become an important battleground in the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has now been going on for more than two years.

Attacks on Russian Black Sea fleets are increasing
Since the beginning of the invasion, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has repeatedly been the target of Ukrainian attacks, which have become more frequent in recent months. In mid-February, for example, the Ukrainian army reported the destruction of the Russian landing ship Caesar Kunikov off the coast of Crimea. In December, Ukrainian forces claimed to have attacked and destroyed a warship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet - Russia, however, spoke of "damage" to the ship.

A spectacular Ukrainian attack on the headquarters of the Russian fleet in Sevastopol last September forced Russia to move its ships further east. In April 2022, two months after the start of the Russian war of aggression, Ukraine sank the centerpiece of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the missile cruiser Moskva.