Key developments on March 5:
- Military intelligence: Russia's Sergey Kotov patrol vessel destroyed near Crimea
- International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Russian military commanders
- Deputy minister: Ukraine can produce 150,000 drones per month
- Ukraine charges 2 Russian soldiers with murdering a civilian in Bucha in 2022
A patrol ship from Russia's Black Sea Fleet, Sergey Kotov, was hit and destroyed in an overnight attack orchestrated by Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), the agency said on March 5.
Reports of the attack on the Russian vessel came following nighttime explosions on the occupied peninsula, during which the Kerch Bridge was shut down.
According to Ukraine's military intelligence, the Project 22160 patrol ship suffered damage to its stern and on its left and right sides.
Sergey Kotov was reportedly located near the Kerch Strait when it was attacked by domestically-produced Magura V5 naval drones. "The cost of the sunken ship is about $65 million," the agency wrote.
Ukrainian military intelligence reported later that seven Russian sailors were killed, six injured and 52 crew members could have been evacuated, according to preliminary data.
In a conversation allegedly intercepted by the military intelligence, a Russian commander claimed that the Sergey Kotov had a helicopter on board.
The ship reportedly had been attacked by naval drones along with another patrol ship, the Vasily Bykov, in September 2023. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that the vessels allegedly managed to repel the attack.
In total, Russia's Black Sea Fleet has four vessels of this design, which the Ukrainian Navy calls "the most modern:" Vasily Bykov, Pavel Derzhavin, Sergey Kotov, and Dmitry Rogachev. Only the latter has not been attacked during the all-out war.
On Feb. 14, the Russian Ropucha-class landing ship Caesar Kunikov was sunk in the Black Sea after being attacked by Ukrainian naval drones.
Kateryna Denisova
International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Russian military commanders
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for two Russian military commanders for carrying out strikes on Ukrainian electricity infrastructure during the winter of 2022 to 2023, the court announced on March 5.
Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash and Admiral Viktor Sokolov "are each allegedly responsible" for a number of war crimes, including "directing attacks at civilian objects," the court said.
Kobylash is suspected due to his role as commander of the long-range aviation, while Sokolov is suspected due to his position as commander of the Black Sea Fleet, according to the court, which is based in The Hague.
"There are reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the forces under their command against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least Oct. 10, 2022, until at least March 9, 2023," the court said.
Russia launched 84 missiles and 24 kamikaze drones at Ukraine on Oct. 10, 2022, the first of a long series of devastating attacks targeting the country’s critical infrastructure through the winter.
"The expected incidental civilian harm and damage" caused by the strikes "would have been clearly excessive to the anticipated military advantage," the court said.
"There are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects also bear responsibility for the crime against humanity" of "intentionally causing great suffering."
By the end of the winter, the strikes had caused $10 billion in damages across Ukraine and left 12 million people with no or limited access to power, according to the United Nations Development Program.
Energy workers battled to repair the infrastructure as quickly as possible, with 22 out of 36 of Ukraine's power generation plants damaged or destroyed.
Elsa Court
Deputy minister: Ukraine can produce 150,000 drones per month
Ukraine has the capacity to produce 150,000 drones every month, and may be able to produce two million drones by the end of the year, Strategic Industries Deputy Minister Hanna Hvozdiar said on air on March 5.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his year-end press conference on Dec. 19, 2023, that Ukraine is ramping up domestic drone production and is on track to produce one million drones in 2024.
"Ukraine is already well past the million mark in terms of production," Hvozdiar said.
The domestic market could benefit from additional funding, which would further increase production capacity, according to Hvozdiar.
More than 200 Ukrainian companies are involved in developing drones, of which almost 60 have received orders from the government, Hvozdiar said.
The government also has "quite ambitious plans" for developing the domestic production of drone components, which until now have been primarily imported from abroad, Hvozdiar said.
Zelensky signed a decree on Feb. 6 creating a separate branch of Ukraine's Armed Forces dedicated to drones.
Drones have "proven their effectiveness in battles on land, in the sky, and at sea," Zelensky said.
On top of domestic drone production, Ukraine's partners plan to supply Kyiv with one million drones in 2024, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference on Feb. 15.
Kateryna Hodunova
Ukraine charges 2 Russian soldiers with murdering civilian in Bucha in 2022
Prosecutor General's Office charged two Russian military servicemen for allegedly shooting a civilian Bucha in 2022, killing the person on the spot, prosecutors said on March 5.
Bucha, a small city near Kyiv, was occupied by Russian troops shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
After the city was liberated late in March of that year, mass graves were discovered, and thousands of war crimes were documented, including the murder of hundreds of civilians.
According to the recently published investigation, two Russian artillery commanders killed an unarmed man on March 19, 2022, at around 5 p.m.
The perpetrators shot the victim with small arms without warning, even though the man was dressed in civilian clothes and had a bandage on his arm, prosecutors said.
"The man was a civilian who did not take part in the armed conflict. He did not have any weapons, tools, or means that could justify the use of violence against him," the statement read.
The two Russian soldiers were charged with murder and violating the laws of war. It is unclear whether they are in Ukrainian captivity or whether they had been served the charges in absentia.
