The General Directorate of Intelligence (GUD) of Ukraine released a video on Tuesday morning showing how it attacked the Russian patrol ship “Sergiy Kotov” in the Black Sea near Crimea with the help of naval drones.

The video shows the ship rocked by powerful explosions after colliding with the kamikaze naval drones, making it unlikely that it would be able to stay afloat after them.

Earlier in the morning, the GUR reported that the 13th special unit attacked the patrol ship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation “Sergiy Kotov” near the Kerch Strait.

“As a result of an attack by Magura V5 marine drones, the Russian project 22160 ship “Sergey Kotov” suffered damage to the stern, right and left sides,” the message says, adding that the cost of the ship is about $65 million. Russia planned to build only 6 such ships, with of which 4 are completed, and two more are still under construction.

The head of President Zelenskyi’s administration Andriy Yermak wrote in Telegram on Tuesday that “the Russian fleet in the Black Sea is a symbol of occupation” and that it “cannot be in Ukrainian Crimea.”

Earlier, a separate video appeared on social networks, shot probably by the Russian side, which probably recorded the explosion that went off on the ship “Sergiy Kotov” from afar.

In just one month, Ukraine destroyed 3 ships of the Black Sea Fleet

The new attack on the Serhiy Kotov ship took place after Ukrainian forces managed to sink the amphibious assault ship “Cesar Kunikov” last month, and the GUR showed on February 14 how it was hit by a wave of marine kamikaze drones.

The military intelligence of the GUR, headed by General Kyrylo Budanov, states that “the enemy ship was attacked by Magura V5 marine attack drones. It happened in the Black Sea, near the city of Alupka, located in the temporarily occupied Crimea.”

“The search and rescue operation of the invaders was unsuccessful. Glory to Ukraine!”, the GUR also noted in its statement. A fully equipped landing craft had 87 sailors and officers on board.

That day, the NATO Secretary General announced that the Russian fleet had suffered “significant losses” in the Black Sea, calling it a “great success” for Ukrainian forces: “The Ukrainians managed to inflict significant losses on the Russian fleet in the Black Sea.” This was stated by Stoltenberg at the press conference, without directly mentioning the Caesar Kunikov ship.

But his comments were made in the context of February 1, just two weeks before this success, the GUR revealed how its agents managed to sink the Russian Tarantul III-class missile corvette Ivanovets at night.

As a result of several direct hits to the ship’s hull, the corvette was damaged and sank. The cost of this ship was approximately 60-70 million dollars.

The corvette “Ivanovets” was sunk after another success against the Russian fleet at the end of December

The Ivanovets ship took part in live gunnery exercises in the Black Sea in July 2023 after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative and later said all ships bound for Ukrainian ports would be considered military targets.

Its crew then fired an anti-ship cruise missile from the Mosquito complex at the suspected enemy, which violated the temporarily closed to shipping zone in the northwestern part of the Black Sea.

The sinking of the ship “Ivanovets” occurred after Ukrainians shot down the Russian amphibious assault ship “Novocherkask” in the occupied Crimea at the end of December with “Storm Shadow” missiles received from Great Britain, while it was anchored in Feodosia. .

The strike “completely destroyed” the ship, the British Ministry of Defense said.

Ukraine has repeatedly struck the Russian Black Sea Fleet since the start of the full-scale invasion, including the sinking of the flagship cruiser Moskva in April 2022 and a devastating missile strike on the fleet’s headquarters in occupied Crimea in September 2023 that reportedly killed more than 30 people. officers

Follow the latest events of the 741st day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.