One of the flagships of the Russian Navy, this ship was seen in Sevastopol in the Crimea when the Ukrainian Navy solemnly announced that it had sunk.
In the end, the Ukrainian sailors didn’t sink it, and maybe they didn’t even touch it. On March 7, the Ukrainian army announced that it had destroyed the Russian patrol boat Vasily Bykov at night off the coast of Odessa in the Black Sea.
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The event was reported by local media. The Ukrainian navy allegedly lured the ship into a trap where artillery fire from the land could get the better of it. The event in the war after the sinking of a ship from land by a non-specialized anti-ship weapon, in this case a multiple launch rocket system, is very difficult and would represent a real feat.
Fake information
Moreover, the Russian ship in question belongs to the most modern class of Russian maritime patrol ships. Commissioned in 2018, the Vasily Bykov is stealthy at 94 meters long, a respectable size that would make its destruction even more significant. Finally, we add that the patrol boat was part of the squadron that attacked the Snake Island, an episode glorified by Ukraine, when the coast guard refused to surrender.
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If in fact the latter did not die heroically, as the Ukrainian army first claimed, then the Russian ship “Vasily Bykov” did not sink either. Images circulated, confirmed by journalist and marine specialist Chris Kavas, showing the ship entering Sevastopol, its home port. It should be noted that this cannot be another Bull-class unit that would have been repainted to pass as the last one, as the rust marks seen on the ship match well with those found in old patrol photos.
Two other ships of the same type by Vasily Bykov, “Dmitry Rogachev” and “Pavel Derzhavin”, are in service with the Black Sea Fleet. This confirmed denial is a reminder of the extent of the information war between the two camps.
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