Russian warship destroyed in Black Sea: Ukraine claims
— Ukraine said on Tuesday its forces had destroyed a Russian military patrol ship in the Black Sea near annexed Crimea, the latest naval attack on Moscow’s fleet in the key waterway.
Kyiv also said it was behind a drone strike on an oil depot in a Russian border region.
Ukraine is flexing its ability to strike Russia from the air and at sea while its troops struggle on the front lines.
“There are no longer any safe harbors for Russians… in the Black Sea and there will never be,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
“There will be no safe space in the sky for them, provided our Ukrainian strength is sufficient,” he continued.
The Black Sea has been a vital battleground in the two-year war.
Ukraine claims to have destroyed more than two dozen Russian ships since Moscow invaded in February 2022.
Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence unit on Tuesday released a black and white video of what it said was the overnight attack on the Sergei Kotov, a 94-meter Russian military patrol ship.
The footage showed a naval drone approaching the side of the vessel, before a large explosion can be seen sending fire, smoke and debris into the sky.
“Another very successful operation. Great news,” said GUR spokesman Andriy Yusov.
“Upgraded to submarine”
The attack happened near the
Kerch Strait, off the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
Officials in Kyiv reveled in the hit, a much-needed boost for Ukrainian forces at a time when Russia is in the ascendancy on the battlefield.
“One Russian ship has been upgraded to a submarine,” Ukraine’s defense ministry said in an ironic post on X.
Delays to Western aid — a $60-billion U.S. aid package and European artillery shells — have left Ukraine’s troops outnumbered and outgunned across the sprawling front lines.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday urged Kyiv’s allies not to be “cowards” in helping them fight the Russian invasion.
He said he “fully stood behind” controversial remarks he made last week, in which he did not rule out the possibility of Western troops being sent to Ukraine.
There was no official response from Moscow about the overnight strike but it was confirmed by Russian military bloggers with close ties to the armed forces.
Some were scornful of the Russian navy’s inability to defend itself.
Pro-war Russian military blogger Yuri Podolyak on Tuesday accused Moscow’s military leaders of being in “ostrich mode” — having their heads buried in the sand — over yet another successful Ukrainian attack in the Black Sea.
Kyiv says it has disabled at least 25 Russian vessels since Moscow invaded — more than a third of its prewar Black Sea fleet.