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Ukraine said Wednesday that it had sunk a Russian landing ship off the coast of Crimea.
Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (GUR) announced that its special operations unit utilized Magura V5 floating drones near Alupka, a city in the far south of Crimea, to hit the Caesar Kunikov Russian vessel.
The Magura V5 drone, resembling a sleek black speedboat, can reach speeds up to 50 miles per hour (80 kph) and carry some 700 pounds in weight.
A video released by GUR shows the ship before and after the attack, featuring a bright explosion and subsequent fire that led to the vessel sinking.
Russian officials have remained silent on the incident. The fate of the Caesar Kunikov’s crew, potentially numbering up to 87, remains uncertain. Russian search and rescue efforts have thus far been unsuccessful, according to GUR.
“I suggest you refer to the statements of our military colleagues,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Wednesday when asked to comment on the fate of the ship. The Russian Ministry of Defense’s only comment claimed to have downed six Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea overnight.
However, the Telegram channel Rybar, close to the Russian Ministry of Defense, did report on the attack. Another pro-military Telegram channel — Two Majors (Dva mayora) — wrote that the crew survived. “Ships, still lacking means of adequate threat counteraction, are shot like partridges,” noted the pro-military Telegram channel Military Informer.
The Caesar Kunikov was named after a World War II Soviet hero. The date of the Ukrainian drone strike on the ship coincides with the anniversary of Kunikov’s death on Feb. 14, 1943.
Ukraine managed to sink another Russian boat — Ivanovets — two weeks ago. If the sinking is confirmed, the Caesar Kunikov would be the 14th Russian vessel hit and the fifth large landing ship in the Black Sea to be damaged by the Ukrainian military since the full-scale invasion launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Two other landing ships sank: Novocherkassk in Feodosia at the end of Dec. 2023 and Saratov in the port of Berdyansk in March 2022.
“The Ukrainians have been able to inflict serious damage on the Russian Black Sea fleet,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Ukrainian attacks on Russian ships in the Black Sea intensified at the end of 2023, with Russia beginning to pull ships out of Crimea to Novorossiysk, according to Bloomberg.
Sergey Goryashko is hosted at POLITICO under the EU-funded EU4FreeMedia residency program.
