The navy ship, which was patrolling the TurkStream gas pipeline, has destroyed all of the incoming drones, the Russian military says
© The Russian Defense Ministry
The Russian Navy’s reconnaissance ship, ‘Ivan Churs’, has been attacked by three unmanned speed boats launched by the Ukrainian military, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
The vessel was targeted early in the morning by the drones in Türkiye’s exclusive economic zone, some 140km (86 miles) to the northeast of the Bosporus Strait, the ministry’s spokesman, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, said during a daily briefing.
The ship was patrolling areas near the TurkStream and Blue Stream natural gas pipelines, Konashenkov noted, adding that the naval patrols were deployed after the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines last September.
“All of the enemy boats were destroyed by fire with the onboard weapons of the Russian ship,” the spokesman added.
The military shared footage of the incident, showing a small, black speedboat coming under large-caliber gunfire. The vessel suffers a direct hit and explodes, leaving a plume of black smoke on the water.
© The Russian Defense Ministry
Over the course of the ongoing conflict, Ukraine has repeatedly used sea drones in order to strike naval vessels of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. The latest attack is the most long-range one, with previous attempts targeting warships stationed at the port of Sevastopol on the Russian Crimean Peninsula. The attacks, however, have been unsuccessful, with the unmanned speedboats detected and destroyed during approach, or getting caught on the protective netting of the harbor.
