Ukraine claims it has sunk another Russian warship in the Black Sea using high-tech sea drones

Handout footage shows what Ukrainian military intelligence said is the Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship Sergey Kotov that was damaged by Ukrainian sea drones, at sea, at a location given as off the coast of Crimea, in this still image obtained from a video released on March 5, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Ministry of Defence of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS

Ukraine claimed on March 5 it has sunk another Russian warship in the Black Sea using high-tech sea drones as Kyiv’s forces continue to take aim at targets deep behind the war’s front line. Russian authorities did not confirm the claim.

The Ukrainian military intelligence agency said a special operations unit destroyed the large patrol ship Sergey Kotov overnight. The ship, which Ukraine said was commissioned in 2021 and was hit near the Kerch Strait, reportedly can carry cruise missiles and around 60 crew.

Also read: Is the Ukraine war changing world order? | Explained

The sinking of such a modern ship would be a significant loss and an embarrassing blow for Moscow, even though there are dozens of other vessels in its Black Sea fleet.

Patrol boats such as the Sergey Kotov are part of Russia’s countermeasures against drone attacks, according to an article published last month by the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a U.S. think tank. The vessels use radar and a helicopter to detect and destroy drones using grenade launchers and heavy machine guns, it said.

Kyiv’s forces are struggling to keep the better-provisioned Russian Army at bay at some points along the largely static 1,500-km front line, but are also taking aim at targets far beyond the battlefield.

In the Black Sea, Ukrainian successes against enemy warships have pushed the Russian fleet away from the coast, allowing Ukraine to set up a grain export corridor.

The Ukraine Defence Ministry posted on X, formerly Twitter, a video of what it said was the nighttime attack on the Sergey Kotov using Magura V5 uncrewed vessels that are designed and built in Ukraine and laden with explosives.

Another bad day for the russian Black Sea fleet.@DI_Ukraine released a video of the attack on the russian warship “Sergei Kotov”. pic.twitter.com/UTmt3eBDXO

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 5, 2024

The Ukrainian claims could not immediately be independently verified, and disinformation has been a feature of the fighting that broke out after Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

The private security firm Ambrey said the attack took place at the port of Feodosia, in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Ambrey said it has seen footage taken by a crew member on a merchant vessel in the port, showing the Sergey Kotov firing at the drones.

The ship was hit at least twice, with the second strike resulting in a large blast, Ambrey reported.

Last month, Ukraine claimed it twice sank Russian warships using drones. On Feb. 1, it claimed to have sunk the Russian missile-armed corvette Ivanovets, and on Feb. 14 it said it destroyed the Caesar Kunikov landing ship. Russian officials did not confirm those claims.

Kyiv officials say some 20% of Russian missile attacks on Ukraine are launched from the Black Sea, and hitting Russian ships there is embarrassing for Moscow.

Almost a year ago, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, the Moskva guided-missile cruiser, sank after it was heavily damaged in a missile attack.

In Pictures | A look back at the two years of Russia – Ukraine war

Russian armored vehicles are loaded onto railway platforms at a railway station in region not far from Russia-Ukraine border, in the Rostov-on-Don region, Russia, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. U.S. President Joe Biden announced the U.S. was ordering heavy financial sanctions against Russia, declaring that Moscow had flagrantly violated international law in what he called the “beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

Chinese and Indian representatives voting to abstain from a resolution raise their hands during a U.N. Security Council meeting on the Russian invasion of the Ukraine on Feb. 25, 2022 at U.N. headquarters. Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution demanding that Moscow stop its attack on Ukraine and withdraw all troops.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the nation via his smartphone in the center of Kyiv, Ukraine on Feb. 26, 2022. Russian troops stormed toward Ukraine‚Äôs capital and street fighting broke out as city officials urged residents to take shelter. The country’s president refused an American offer to evacuate, insisting that he would stay.

Smoke rising after shelling on the outskirts of the city is pictured from Kyiv, Ukraine February 27, 2022.

FILE – Smoke rise from an air defense base in the aftermath of an apparent Russian strike in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukraine is marking Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, with a string of foreign dignitaries and officials expected to visit the capital, Kyiv, in solidarity as Ukrainian forces run low on ammunition and weaponry and Western aid hangs in the balance. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

A general view of a residential building damaged by a Russian missile strike, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in the village of Serhiivka, Odesa region, Ukraine July 1, 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin watches the Vostok 2022 (East 2022) military exercise in far eastern Russia, outside Vladivostok, on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. The weeklong exercise that began Thursday is intended to showcase growing defense ties between Russia and China and also demonstrate that Moscow has enough troops and equipment to conduct the massive drills even as its troops are engaged in military action in Ukraine.

Bodies are seen next to cars from a civilian convoy, which Ukrainian State Security Service say was hit by a shelling from Russian troops amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near the village of Kurylivka in Kharkiv region, Ukraine on October 21, 2022.

Victor Syabro, 68, cuts a plank of wood into smaller pieces for firewood on his land where he and his wife Ludmila, 61, continue to live despite the fact that their home was mostly destroyed by shelling in the summer and their garden was hit as recently as last week as the town continues to receive shelling on a daily basis in Siversk, Ukraine, November 28, 2022. Despite no power, water or services and daily shelling, Victor says they will not leave because it’s their land, where Victor was raised and where five generations have lived.

A family reunites for the first time since Russian troops withdrew from the Kherson region, in Tsentralne, southern Ukraine, Nov. 13, 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend a news conference during “The inaugural International Summit of the initiative Grain from Ukraine” in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022.

Ukrainian servicemen fire a 120mm mortar towards Russian positions at the frontline near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meet, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 20, 2023.

A firefighter works inside the burnt-out building of the University of Economics and Trade, which was reportedly hit by shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, August 6, 2023.

An employee operates at a production facility of Zaporizhstal Iron and Steel Works, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine October 9, 2023.

A Ukrainian serviceman shouts to paramedics in front of bodies killed after a Russian rocket attack on the food market in the city centrer of Kostiantynivka, Ukraine on Sept. 6, 2023.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia received positive news on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, about their quests to join the European Union but countries in the volatile Balkans region that have waited years longer to become members of the world’s biggest trading bloc appeared to slip back in the queue.

An explosion erupts from an apartment building at 110 Mytropolytska St., after a Russian army tank fired on it in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022.

Ukrainian infantrymen train with French soldiers to learn combat skills, in France, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. With the full-scale war grinding into a second winter, and casualties already counted in the hundreds of thousands continuing to mount on both sides, the training has become crucially important for Ukraine’s chances of victory.

Smoke rises over a residential building after a Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine December 29, 2023.