Ukraine war
Kyiv: Russian warship sunk in drone attack
Ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in one of the bays of Sevastopol (archive photo from 2014). photo
© Uncredited/AP/dpa
As Russia’s army advances further into Ukraine, the defenders are taking pinpricks against the invaders. Now another ship from the Black Sea Fleet is said to have been hit.
The sinking is at least unofficially confirmed in Moscow. The pro-Russian military blog Belorusski Silowik wrote that the ship was destroyed. The influential blog Rybar, which is close to the Moscow Defense Ministry, also spread the message.
Not the first attack
There is also a video circulating that is supposed to show the hit on the “Sergej Kotow” that night. There, a ship can presumably be seen in the Bay of Feodosiya in the southeast of Crimea, firing at targets in the water until it is itself shaken by a heavy explosion. Last autumn there were reports of a drone attack on the “Sergei Kotov”, which is said to have suffered serious damage.
In total, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has four such patrol boats. They are among the most modern ships in the squadron and were all only launched in 2017. Powered by German diesel engines, the corvettes can also fire modern Kalibr cruise missiles, which the Russian fleet has also used to attack Ukrainian ground targets far inland. Among other things, energy supply objects were targeted.
The Ukrainian military, for its part, has now either damaged or sunk a number of Black Sea Fleet ships. The fleet is repeatedly exposed to attacks, especially on the Crimean peninsula, which has been annexed by Russia since 2014. The Ukrainians achieved the most prominent kill shortly after the start of the war with the sinking of the missile cruiser “Moskva”, which served as the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet.