of Ukraine The military said it sank on Wednesday Russian Landing ship in the Black Sea using naval drones, a report not confirmed by the Russian forces.
The General Staff of Ukraine said that the amphibious ship “Sezar Kunikov” sank near the city of Alupka, located on the southern edge of the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014. It was reported that the ship can carry 87 crew members.
The sinking of the ship would be another embarrassing blow for Russia’s Black Sea fleet and a significant achievement for Ukraine, 10 days before the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
Ukraine has been on the defensive in the war, hampered by low ammunition supplies and personnel shortages, but has kept its strikes largely behind a static 930-mile front line.
Ukrainian forces say they have sunk a Russian ship in the Black Sea for the second time in two weeks. Last week, they released a video showing naval drones attacking the Russian missile-armed corvette Ivanovets.
Ukrainian Military Intelligence, known by its acronym GUR, said its Group 13 special operations unit used Magura V5 naval unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to sink the Sesar Kunikov, damaging the ship’s port side, on Wednesday. According to officials, the same unit was also hit on February 1.
Ukraine’s attacks on Russian aircraft and ships in the Black Sea have helped push Moscow’s naval forces back from the coast and allowed Kiev to increase exports of vital grain and other goods through southern ports.
New generation unmanned weapon systems have become central to warfare both at sea and on land.
The Magura V5 drone, which looks like a sleek black speedboat, was launched last year. It is said to have a top speed of 42 knots (50 mph) and a payload of 700 pounds.
The Russian military did not immediately comment on the alleged sinking, saying only that they shot down six Ukrainian drones overnight over the Black Sea.
Caesar Kunikov, after whom the Russian ship was named, was a hero of the Soviet Union in World War II and was killed on February 14, 1943, the same day as a Ukrainian drone strike.