Ukraine’s military released video from a drone attack this week that it says sunk a Russian warship in its Black Sea Fleet off the coast of Crimea.
Ukraine said the Wednesday attack on the Russian landing ship Caesar Kunikov was carried out by MAGURA V5 drones, which blew open holes in the side of the vessel. The 370-foot ship had a crew of approximately 90.
The attack was carried out by the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the country’s “Group 13” intelligence unit in Ukraine’s territorial waters near Alupka, the country said in a statement. The ship had been at a location loading up with weapons and other military hardware to ship to Russian forces in Ukraine when it was hit.
“Ukraine has disabled a third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet during the large-scale invasion,” Ukraine’s military said.
“That aligns with Ukrainian claims last week that they had disabled about 33% of Russia’s warships, amounting to 24 disabled ships and one submarine,” CNN reported. “The landing ship Caesar Kunikov would be the 25th disabled ship, according to Ukraine’s count.”
Ukraine’s shift to using drones to level the playing field against Russia has proved to be highly effective, as the country has been able to reopen grain exports to the world market since Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has been forced to move back hundreds of miles.
“It is these unmanned systems – such as drones – along with other types of advanced weapons, that provide the best way for Ukraine to avoid being drawn into a positional war, where we do not possess the advantage,” said Ukraine’s former top general, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
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A pilot of one of the drones told CNN that they are a considerable advantage for Ukraine because they are “quite difficult to see” and they are agile, meaning that even if they are spotted, they are hard to shoot down.
“No warship can be as maneuverable as these drones,” the pilot said.
At this rate, the Russian Black Sea Fleet won’t have any warships left soon. Ropucha-class large landing ship Cesar Kunikov hit and apparently sunk by Ukrainian naval drones overnight. pic.twitter.com/yUJDmtKYgA
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) February 14, 2024