Russian ship sinks in drone attack, Kyiv says

ARUSSIAN patrol ship has been sunk in the Black Sea after being attacked by sea drones, according to Ukrainian intelligence.

Sergei Kotov was allegedly hit in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Ukraine’s military intelligence service said the Black Sea fleet ship suffered damage to the stern as well as right and left sides.

The Kremlin is yet to comment, but some Russian bloggers confirmed the sinking of the Sergei Kotov. The BBC has not been able to independently verify the extent of damage to the ship.

Ukrainian intelligence official, Andrii Yusov, told Ukrainian broadcaster RFERL, that sailors on board had been killed and injured.

The Sergei Kotov is one of four patrol ships completed for the Russian Navy’s Project 22160. It had previously been attacked by Ukraine in September last year.

According to Ukraine, the vessel played a part in the attack on Snake Island on the first day of the full- scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, along with the Moskva cruiser.

The Moskva was sunk by Ukraine in 2022.

Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine almost 10 years ago. In recent months Ukraine has repeatedl y hit Russia’s Black Sea fleet stationed on the peninsula.

Ukraine said the cost of the sunken Sergei Kotov ship was $ 65m (£ 51.2m), adding that it was hit near the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea from Russia.

A video posted on social media appears to show the moment when the ship was hit.

BBC Verify has looked at the video, releas ed by Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, whi ch is said to be of the attack.

The vessel has similar structural features to a patrol ship of the same class as the Sergei Kotov. However, no number is visible on its side, so the footage does not make clear if it is the same ship.

No other versions of the video have appeared on reverse image searches, suggesting the video was released recently.

At least 13 Russian naval ships have been destroyed or damaged since the start of the conflict, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank.

Last month, another Russian amphibious ship, the Caesar Kunikov, was sunk