A Magura naval drone operated by Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) destroyed a Russian KS-701 Tunets (Tuna) patrol boat and damaged three more Russian watercraft in occupied Crimea, HUR reported on Aug. 10.
The attack took place overnight on Aug. 8-9 near the village of Chornomorske on the north-western coast of Crimea, according to HUR.
The type of the three damaged watercraft is still being established, the agency said in its post on social media.
This is not the first successful Ukrainian attack on Russian high-speed Tunets boats used for patrolling and logistics. HUR said it had destroyed two Tunets patrol boats and damaged another two near the Crimean coast in May.
The Magura V5 is a multi-purpose naval drone developed by Ukraine and has been extensively used in attacks against the Russian Black Sea fleet, mainly by ramming into enemy vessels while loaded with explosives.
Newer versions of the Magura V5 are equipped with air-to-air guided missiles.
According to HUR, Ukraine hit a total of 18 Russian vessels with Magura drones, destroying nine, including a landing ship Caesar Kunikov, a Sergei Kotov patrol ship, high-speed Serna and Akula landing crafts, and a Tarantul-class Ivanovets missile corvette.
Kateryna Denisova
(Updated: )
