A modern Russian coastal warship has been swarmed by drones and sunk, Ukraine claims, the latest strike against the dwindling Black Sea Fleet.
Ukraine says it sank the coastal patrol ship Sergei Kotov overnight into this morning in U.N.-recognised, if Russian-contested, Ukrainian territorial waters near the Kerch Strait. The attack, which was undertaken and recorded in real-time by a swarm of high speed marine drones appears to have successfully struck large patrol ship the Sergei Kotov several times, according to footage published by Ukrainian military intelligence.
Russia has not yet commented on the claimed loss, but “Russian bloggers” said they confirmed the loss, reports the BBC. Monday night was the third attempt by Ukraine’s armed forces to sink the Sergei Kotov
Ukrainian state media reports the comments of Andrii Yusov, a spokesman of the Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR), who said the Sergei Kotov is one of the newest ships in the Russian fleet. He said Russia intended to up-arm the class, supplementing the main gun and vertical-launch Kalibir cruise missiles with a surface-to-air missile system.
Yusov said: “The fewer such ships they have, the fewer anti-aircraft missile systems will be placed on them, which means more opportunities for the Ukrainian security and defense forces.”
Unlike some earlier combat losses of the Russian navy to Ukrainian special forces drones, it appears there may have been survivors from the Sergei Kotov. Ukraine says it observed 10 ambulances attend the shoreline after the blast, and that dozens of sailors may have been evacuated from the ship by Russian forces.
Ukrainian state media hailed the attack as “another significant sea victory for Ukraine”. Kyiv was praised by London late last year for having functionally defeated the Russian Black Sea Fleet after sinking several ships and pushing the remainder eastwards away from their historic moorings in Crimea, where Russia has had a naval base for centuries. That victory was buttressed by others earlier this year, with a Russian missile corvette the Ivanovets and then an amphibious landing ship the Caesar Kunikov sunk in February.