Ukraine said it attacked two Russian patrol boats off the Moscow-annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in the Black Sea overnight Wednesday into Thursday, continuing efforts to push the Russian navy off its coast.
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Without commenting on the incident, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had destroyed two Ukrainian naval drones “in the direction of Crimea” overnight.
He also claimed to have neutralized 13 Ukrainian aerial drones near Crimea and over the Krasnodar region in southern Russia.
A Ukrainian defense source told AFP that “two Russian patrol boats – initially believed to be of the KS-701 “Tunets” class – were attacked overnight”.
According to this source, “Ukrainian Magura V5 naval drones were captured by Russia in 2014 and attacked enemy boats in the area of the village of Chornomorsk, near the city of Yevpatoriya in western Crimea”.
This “special operation” was carried out by the Department of Military Intelligence (GUR), a structure within the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense known for its operations deep into Russia and its occupied Ukrainian territories.
Ukrainian military intelligence shared a short video on social media in which a naval drone can be seen crashing into a docked boat and exploding.
In its morning statement, the Russian Defense Ministry, as usual, did not mention the strikes claimed by Kiev, confirming only that it had intercepted eight aerial drones during the night, “above the Black Sea, near the coast of Crimea.
The ministry also said it destroyed two Ukrainian naval drones “directed towards Crimea” in the Black Sea overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.
“Five Ukrainian aerial drones were shot down by air defense systems in the Krasnodar region,” the ministry continued in its statement.
The Russian military added that eight ATACMS tactical missiles were destroyed by anti-aircraft defenses over the Sea of Azov near Crimea. The Ukrainian military used US-made missiles against Russian troops.
In a separate press release, the Russian Security Services (FSB) announced on Thursday that, in coordination with Ukrainian military intelligence, it had arrested four people suspected of preparing “a series of acts of sabotage and terrorism” against trains and railways in Crimea. According to TASS news agency.
In recent months, Moscow’s navy has had to retreat to the Black Sea in the face of several attacks by Ukrainian maritime drones and missiles, unlike Russian ground forces, which have regained the initiative in several places in Ukraine.
These victories allowed Ukraine to sink or damage numerous Russian ships and reopen a sea route to export its grain.
In early March, the Ukrainian navy, for example, said it had destroyed a “very modern Russian patrol boat, the Serhiy Kotov,” which was attacked by naval drones near the Kerch Strait that connects Crimea to Russia.
