Video: Russian Drone Boat Sinks Ukraine’s Largest Naval Ship In First-Ever Strike

Russia has announced that it carried out a naval drone strike on the Ukrainian Navy’s reconnaissance ship Simferopol in the Danube River delta. This is Moscow’s first confirmed use of a sea drone, a weapon Ukraine has long used against Russian forces.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the strike was conducted using a high-speed uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) at the mouth of the River Danube. According to the ministry, the Ukrainian ship sank as a result.

Moscow released video footage to back its claim, including one clip showing the drone boat’s approach toward the ship and another thermal camera recording from above that captured the moment of impact, when the vessel exploded in a fireball.

Unbelievable

An unmanned Russian boat rammed and sank Ukraine’s reconnaissance ship Simferopol. pic.twitter.com/MvQ1MZyNKG

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Ukraine confirmed the strike on one of its vessels but did not immediately specify the ship’s identity. Later, officials acknowledged that the Simferopol had been hit.

Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmitry Pletenchuk said that most of the crew survived, but one sailor was killed, several others were injured, and search operations were still underway for missing personnel.

The Simferopol was a Laguna-class reconnaissance vessel designed for radio, electronic, radar, and optical intelligence-gathering. It was launched in 2019 and formally joined Ukraine’s naval fleet in 2021, making it one of the largest and most advanced ships built by Kyiv in the last decade.

Russian Defense Ministry released footage of what it says shows the moment of a USV strike on the Ukrainian reconnaissance ship “Simferopol” in the Danube delta last night. https://t.co/9U9GUAxDlk pic.twitter.com/9AzR7E5ON0

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The attack took place just a day after an unusual U.S. Navy mission in the Black Sea. On August 27, a U.S. P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol plane carrying a secretive radar pod was filmed by a Russian jet over the western Black Sea.

Defense experts pointed out that this aircraft carries some of the most advanced sensors for detecting small craft such as naval drones, which makes its presence in the area particularly notable.

Meanwhile, Ukraine also launched its own long-range strike at sea. According to reports, Ukrainian forces carried out an aerial drone attack on a Russian missile corvette operating in the Sea of Azov. The full extent of the damage to the vessel has not been confirmed.

References: TWZ, abplive

Source: Maritime Shipping News