Naval aviation has found and destroyed a Ukrainian speedboat and seven sea drones, the Russian Ministry of Defense said
FILE photo. A Su-30SM multirole fighter jet with the Russian Black Sea Fleet aviation. © Sputnik / Vitaly Timkiv
The Russian military said on Friday it had intercepted a group of Ukrainian vessels, which was headed towards the Crimean Peninsula. The vessels including a crewed boat and multiple water drones, which were all destroyed by the country’s naval aircraft, it said.
The speedboat, identified by the military as a semi-rigid vessel of the US-made Willard Sea Force family, was carrying a Ukrainian landing party. The military did not elaborate on the type and exact nature of unmanned vessels, stating only it had destroyed seven water drones.
The group was detected by Russian naval aviation during a patrol in the south-western part of the Black Sea. The vessels were promptly dispatched by onboard armaments of the aircraft, the Russian military added without elaborating how many planes were involved in the incident.
Amid the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Kiev has repeatedly attacked Crimea with sea drones, targeting port infrastructure and military vessels stationed at the peninsula. It has also made several attempts to send small saboteur groups in by sea, with landing efforts largely being unsuccessful.
Early in October, one of the Ukrainian commandos ended up in Russian custody after another botched raid. According to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the ultimate goal of the raid was actually to have photos and videos taken on the peninsula against the backdrop of a Ukrainian flag.
