- By Robert Greenall
- BBC News
Watch: Video appears to show Ukrainian sea drones destroy Russian warship in Black Sea
Ukrainian forces say they have destroyed a Russian missile boat from the Black Sea Fleet in a special operation off Russian-occupied Crimea.
The Ivanovets – a small warship – received “direct hits to the hull” overnight, after which it sank, military intelligence said.
It has released video footage that purports to show the moment of impact, followed by a big explosion.
There has been no word about the incident from Russian authorities.
However, Russian military blogger “Voenkor Kotenok” wrote on Telegram that the boat had sunk after being hit three times by naval drones.
Several features visible on the vessel in the Ukrainian video match those of the Tarantul, or Project 12411, a class of missile boats operated by the Russian and other navies, which the Ivanovets belongs to.
These include the layout of the mast and sensors on top of the main superstructure as well as a large radar dome on top of the bridge.
Image source, Ukraine military intelligence
Ukraine’s military purportedly captured the moment of the blast on video
Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate said the boat was destroyed by soldiers of its special unit “Group 13” in Lake Donuzlav, a saltwater bay on the western side of the Crimean peninsula which houses a naval base.
“As a result of a series of direct hits to the hull, the Russian ship suffered damage incompatible with further movement – the Ivanovets listed to the stern and sank,” it said on its Telegram channel.
A Russian search and rescue operation in the area was unsuccessful, it added.
It said the ship was worth in the region of $60-70m (£47m-55m).
Foreign Ministry official Olexander Scherba described the attack as “impressive”.
“At 03:45 [01:45 GMT] there was the first hit and at 04:00 the whole crew was evacuated already. So there was no chance at all that this vessel would be saved,” he told the BBC.
Image source, Ukrainian military intelligence
A few moments later, it appeared to show the bow apparently sinking into the water
Ukraine has achieved a series of successes in the war in and around the Black Sea, damaging or destroying Russian warships despite having no fleet of its own.
After a missile strike on the headquarters of the Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol last September, satellite images showed that the Russian navy had moved much of its Black Sea fleet away from Crimea to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.
Additional reporting by Adam Robinson, BBC Verify
