Surface drones hit the Russian ship Sergei Kotov near the strategically important Kerch Strait.
Ukraine claims to have destroyed a Russian Navy patrol boat in the Black Sea. The ship had been hit before but was only destroyed in Tuesday night's attack, Ukrainian military intelligence HUR spokesman Andriy Yusov told journalists. There were deaths and injuries among the crew, but it was “likely that some crew members could be evacuated,” Jusow added.
The Russian Defense Ministry initially did not comment on the incident. HUR previously stated that Magura V5 surface drones struck the Project 22160 ship Sergei Kotov near the Kerch Strait, causing “sustainable damage to the stern, starboard and port sides.”
The strategically important waterway between the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014, and the Taman peninsula in southern Russia, has become an important battleground in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. more than two years.
Russian Black Sea Fleet repeatedly attacked
The Russian Black Sea Fleet has been the target of Ukrainian attacks since the start of the Russian invasion, but these have increased in recent months. In mid-February, the Ukrainian army reported the destruction of the Russian landing ship “Caesar Kunikov” off the coast of Crimea. In December, the Ukrainian armed forces claimed to have attacked and destroyed a warship from the Russian Black Sea Fleet – Moscow, however, spoke of “damage” to the ship.
A spectacular Ukrainian attack on the Russian fleet headquarters in Sevastopol in September forced Moscow to move its ships further east. In April 2022, two months after the start of the Russian war of aggression, the Ukrainian armed forces sank the heart of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the missile cruiser “Moskva”. (APA/AFP)