Russia also claimed to have destroyed five Ukrainian naval drones in the Black Sea overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, as well as several aerial drones in the annexed Crimean peninsula, without reporting any casualties at this stage. “On Thursday around 5 a.m. local time (4 a.m. in Paris), Ukrainian armed forces attempted to attack the Black Sea Fleet patrol boat ‘Sergueï Kotov’ in the Black Sea using five naval drones,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said. Defense on Telegram.
The five devices were destroyed by fire from the Russian ship, added the ministry, which did not provide information on possible damage or casualties. The “Sergueï Kotov” had already been targeted by kyiv on at least two occasions this summer, according to Moscow. And on Wednesday evening, Russian Defense claimed to have destroyed three Ukrainian naval drones in the Black Sea without specifying what they were targeting. The same morning, the same source also said it had destroyed three vehicles of the same type which were trying to attack a detachment of boats from the Russian fleet.
Furthermore, on the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, “air defense assets destroyed eleven aerial drones” early Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported, without reporting any possible injuries or damage.