Ukrainian drone sinks Russian vessel in Sea of Azov
During the night, a drone reportedly attacked and sunk a Russian barge near Yeysk in the Sea of Azov.
In the early hours of June 9, Ukrainian strike drones were active near the Russian town of Yeysk, situated on the coast of the Sea of Azov. Preliminary reports suggest a Russian vessel was targeted.
This information was shared on Telegram by Petrov Andryushchenko, an advisor to the Mayor of Mariupol, citing sources. Reports also appeared on some Yeysk community channels, but were swiftly deleted.
"Around midnight, our UAV struck a vessel near the port of Yeysk and it presumably followed the cruiser 'Moskva' to the bottom of the sea. By morning, all information about the attack had been removed from the occupiers' channels," Andryushchenko stated.
He noted that Russia has started relocating the remnants of its Black Sea Fleet to the Sea of Azov to hide them from Ukrainian marine drone strikes. Several large amphibious landing ships (BDKs) of the Russian Navy were reportedly moved from the port of Novorossiysk through the Kerch Strait.
"It seems the occupiers decided to hide their BDKs in Yeysk, but something went wrong. We await official statements from the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence. Nevertheless, the very fact of an active hunt for the Russian fleet in the Sea of Azov is a massively positive development, not to be underestimated," Andryushchenko concluded.
The Telegram channel Crimean Wind also reported the night attack on the Yeysk port. Initially, it was said that the attack likely involved a large landing ship, but later it was clarified that a different ship might have been hit. The vessel is 96 meters long, as measured from a satellite image, with a margin of error of several meters.
Large landing ships are usually 112 to 113 meters in length, while patrol ships of the Project 22160 Vasily Bykov class are 94 meters long.
Moreover, an oil spill appeared, which was not there before.