The strike on Wednesday against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet’s Ivanovets warship near annexed Crimea marks the 26th successful strike by Ukraine of a Russian ship since the war began.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry published nighttime footage showing the moment sea drones attacked the Russian supersonic missile-armed corvette in the harbor of Lake Donuzlav. It’s unclear if there were casualties.
Independent Russian news outlet The Insider reported that since Russian President Vladimir Putin attempted to invade Ukraine on February 24, 2022, at least 26 Russian vessels have been attacked by Kyiv’s forces. The Black Sea Fleet has been targeted by Ukraine as it seeks to reverse Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. The region serves as Russia’s central logistics hub for its forces in southern Ukraine.
“Ship wreck of the day!” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday, adding that the operation to destroy the vessel was carried out by soldiers of Ukraine’s Group 13 special forces. The group was aided by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the United24 platform, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate said.
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“As a result of a number of direct hits to the hull, the corvette was damaged, rolled to the stern, and sank. The value of the ship is approximately $60–70 million,” the Defense Ministry added. “Nice job, warriors!”
While the Kremlin hasn’t commented on the incident, Russian military bloggers said Ukraine had sunk the boat. Newsweek could not independently verify the authenticity of the video or Kyiv’s claims and has contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry for comment by email.
According to Russian Telegram Rybar, Ukraine deployed at least nine naval drones that left the western Odesa region toward Crimea, and four of them were destroyed by Russian forces. One exploded next to the Ivanovets warship, “damaging it.”
Yuri Kotenok, a Russian war correspondent, blogger and analyst who runs the Telegram channel Voenkor Kotenok Z, suggested that three naval drones struck the vessel.
Russian media watcher Dr. Ian Garner said on X, formerly Twitter, that “news of the latest sunk Russian ship has been met with frustrated powerlessness on Russian Telegram: ‘There’s nothing to say about it at this point.'”
“Note the emoji reactions: not tears but rage,” he wrote, referring to emojis Telegram users used to react to the news.
Garner added: “Russia can’t keep this up forever.”
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has suffered extensive casualties throughout the war. Its flagship, Moskva, was attacked in April 2022. In September 2023, Ukraine launched a missile attack on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol, reportedly killing a number of leading officers and taking out a Russian submarine.
At least 37 Russian sailors were reportedly killed when Ukraine destroyed Russia’s landing ship Novocherkassk in December.
Telegram channel Crimean Wind reported Thursday that there was a fire off the coast of Crimea. It’s unclear what the fire could have been, but it noted that in the affected area “there are many dry cargo ships and tankers” with their identification system switched off.
“Ukraine’s sea drones going for the trifecta?” asked Russian media watcher “Jay in Kyiv” in a post on X. “Another ship is burning 80km south of Crimea according the Crimean Wind Telegram channel.”
“Russians travel with transponders off, so we can’t yet confirm which ship it is,” he added. “Oil tanker, Russian warship, carrier of stolen Ukrainian grain?”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.