Ukrainian Intelligence's drone strikes sink several Russian vessels in Crimea
The Russian Ministry of Defence has reported that during the past night, eight American ATACMS operational-tactical missiles were shot down over the Sea of Azov, along with eight drones and two unmanned boats near the occupied Crimea coast on the Black Sea.
Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) confirmed that two Russian boats were destroyed in occupied Crimea during the night of May 30. According to preliminary reports, the destroyed vessels are identified as the high-speed KS-701 "Tuna" landing crafts.
"Group 13" of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence effectively used Ukrainian Magura V5 marine strike drones to attack Russian vessels located in temporarily occupied Crimea," a statement from GUR reads.
According to GUR, to intercept the drones approaching the Vuzka Bay near the village of Chornomorske, Russian forces carried out a total of 32 air sorties, deploying aircraft such as Su-27/30/35, MiG-29, Be-12, An-26, and helicopters Ka-27/29 and Mi-8.
The KS-701 Tuna are diesel-powered boats with aluminium hulls, manufactured by the Kostroma shipbuilding plant. These vessels are used by Russian security forces for various operations and by Putin's oligarchs for fishing purposes.
Residents in Kerch reported hearing about 20 explosions overnight (https://t.me/astrapress/56529). During the attack, the Crimean Bridge was closed for approximately an hour.
Authorities in Russian-annexed Crimea confirmed the attack on Kerch. They stated that two ferries – one for automobiles and another for railway – were damaged by debris from shot-down missiles, but no casualties occurred among sailors or civilians, as reported by the so-called "Minister of Transport of Crimea" Nikolai Lukashenko in his Telegram post.
Additionally, the news outlet Astra reported, citing sources, debris from a downed missile damaged the pilot boat "Mechta" at the Kerch ferry crossing (https://t.me/astrapress/56564).
"The boat sank after the crew managed to evacuate safely," writes Astra.
Since the beginning of 2024, GUR's special unit "Group 13" has used Magura V5 marine strike drones to destroy several Russian vessels. These include the missile boat Ivanovets , the large landing ship Caesar Kunikov, the corvette Sergei Kotov , the high-speed patrol boat Mangust, and landing craft of the Akula and Serna projects. Additionally, the reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs was damaged.
On the night of May 19, the Black Sea Fleet vessel Tsyclone, one of four small missile ships of the 22800 Karakurt project enlisted in the Russian Navy, was destroyed. Eleven more ships of this kind are at various stages of construction, with one possibly being repaired after a previous attack by Ukrainian forces.
In total, since the onset of large-scale military actions in Ukraine, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has reportedly lost more than 20 ships out of the approximately 70 vessels it originally had.