Ukrainian drone disables rare Russian vessel patrolling Black Sea, intelligence says, shows footage
A Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) drone hit a multifunctional vessel of the Russian Black Sea Fleet off Novorossiysk on Sept. 10, inflicting costly damage, the agency reported.
The Project MPSV07 ship was tracked and hit while carrying out reconnaissance and patrolling Novorossiysk Bay near Russia's Krasnodar Krai, where the Black Sea Fleet is currently based, according to HUR.
The agency released black-and-white footage of a domestically produced aerial drone hitting the ship's bridge.
"As a result of the strike, the Russian vessel's electronic intelligence systems were destroyed, and the ship was disabled and sent for costly repairs," HUR said in its Sept. 11 statement.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
The targeted ship, with an estimated price tag of $60 million, was commissioned in 2015, HUR said without naming the vessel.
While the Ukrainian agency says that Russia has four vessels of this class, open sources list five operational Project MPSV07 multifunctional salvage ships, with the sixth one under construction.
One of them is Spasatel Demidov, delivered in 2015 and registered at the port of Novorossiysk. According to marine tracking services, its last known position was received 77 days ago, just north of the Russian Kola Peninsula in the Barents Sea.
A HUR spokesperson told the Kyiv Independent that the name of the targeted vessel is being determined.
The Project MPSV07 is equipped with diving systems, remotely operated vehicles, a side-scan sonar, and electronic intelligence equipment. Its output is 4 megawatts, and it can be used for seabed inspection, according to HUR.
Recent weeks saw HUR special forces ramp up attacks against Russian military assets in the Black Sea region, including occupied Crimea. Most recently, two radar stations belonging to Russia's air defense system were hit on the peninsula, the agency reported on Sept. 9.
Using drone and missile attacks, Ukraine has allegedly destroyed or disabled one-third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet during the full-scale war, including the Caesar Kunikov landing ship, the Sergei Kotov patrol ship, the Ivanovets missile corvette, and multiple high-speed landing crafts.
