Russian military destroys Ukrainian seaborne drones

The Russian military intercepted three seaborne drones off the south coast of Crimea on Tuesday morning, the country’s Defense Ministry has revealed. It was the third such attempted incursion this month, all of which have been thwarted.

In a message on its Telegram channel, the ministry reported that “on October 24 at 4am Moscow time, three unmanned boats belonging to the Ukrainian Navy were detected by technical surveillance means in the northern part of the Black Sea.”

According to the statement, Russian forces hit the area where the drones had been spotted with “missile-bomb systems.” Following the incident, “mine-clearing and counter-sabotage activities” were conducted outside the port of Sevastopol, the ministry added. 

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of the city, which enjoys a special regional status similar to that of Moscow and St. Petersburg, explained the “loud sounds” to residents on his Telegram channel on Tuesday morning, stating that the “Black Sea Fleet is repelling a possible attack by enemy underwater sabotage forces.”

The latest attempted seaborne drone incursion came just days after the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Black Sea Fleet had destroyed a similar type of unmanned vehicle at sea. Military officials were quick to point the finger at Ukraine.

A similar incident occurred in early October, when naval aviation of the Black Sea Fleet detected and destroyed an “unmanned boat of the Ukrainian Armed Forces” in open waters.

Ukraine has repeatedly used maritime drones to attack Russian port infrastructure in Crimea, and particularly in Sevastopol, which hosts the country’s Black Sea Fleet. Maritime drones have also been used to target such key transport infrastructure as the Crimean Bridge, which was badly damaged in an attack in July. The Russian military has also regularly reported that its air defenses have shot down aerial drones over the peninsula.