Ukraines military intelligence identified the Russian ship as the Sergey Kotov.
Ukraine’s military confirmed on Tuesday that it destroyed the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s newest patrol ship using naval drones, Newsweek reported. The news was shared by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (HUR).
Ukraine’s military intelligence identified the Russian ship as the Sergey Kotov worth about USD 65 million. The Ministry of Defence said, ”Another Russian ship was upgraded to a submarine. Tonight, the special unit of the @DI_Ukraine “Group 13” attacked the patrol ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, “Sergei Kotov,” worth $65 million. As a result of the attack by Magura V5 naval drones, the Russian ship project 22160, “Sergei Kotov,” suffered damage to the stern, right, and left sides. Nice start to the day! Great job, warriors.”
Here’s the tweet:
+1 russian ship was upgraded to a submarine.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 5, 2024
Tonight, the special unit of the @DI_Ukraine "Group 13" attacked the patrol ship of the russian Black Sea Fleet, "Sergei Kotov," worth $65 million.
As a result of the attack by Magura V5 naval drones, the russian ship of project… pic.twitter.com/smZ1H1Ekp6
HUR’s special unit Group 13 and Ukraine’s Naval Forces took part in the operation with support from the Ministry of Digital Transformation, HUR said in a statement on Telegram.
A video posted later on social media platforms claims to show “how the Sergei Kotov was sunk.”
Watch the video here:
⚡️Russian Sergei Kotov patrol ship of the Black Sea Fleet was destroyed last night by the Group 13 special Unit of Ukrainian Defense Intelligence.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) March 5, 2024
As a result of the attack by Magura V5 naval drones, the Russian ship of project 22160 Sergei Kotov suffered damage to the stern,… pic.twitter.com/0yAG9vqg8Y
Ukrainian Defense Intelligence shared a video of the Russian Sergey Kotov patrol ship being destroyed.
Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, said on Telegram that ”The Russian Black Sea Fleet is a symbol of occupation. It cannot be in the Ukrainian Crimea,” in an apparent reference to the attack.
Train traffic was temporarily stopped on the bridge linking the Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland, according to the Telegram channel of a Russia-installed official in Crimea.
Last month, the Ukrainian military said it had destroyed a Russian landing warship near Crimea in an operation with naval drones that breached the vessel’s port side and caused it to sink, Reuters reported.
