Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
The Ukrainian military said on Thursday that it carried out a drone strike on a Russian warship capable of launching cruise missiles, marking the latest attack on Moscow’s wounded navy.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, the HUR, said in a statement that it targeted a Buyan-M-class (or Project 21631) corvette operating in the Sea of Azov, a body of water that separates Russia from occupied Ukraine.
Rather than engage the Russian vessel with exploding naval drones, the HUR said that it used an aerial drone to strike and damage the ship’s radar station while another drone attacked the side of the corvette. This kind of ship is a relatively small vessel that can launch powerful Kalibr cruise missiles.
Ukraine shared footage of the attack online. The video showed two separate strikes on the corvette. It wasn’t immediately clear what types of drones were used. It said that the targeted enemy ship was operating in a potential missile launch zone but was forced to leave the area.
Business Insider could not independently verify the footage or the released details of the operation.
The drone strikes on the corvette mark Ukraine’s latest attack against the Russian navy. Since the early days of the full-scale invasion, Kyiv has relied on an arsenal of domestically produced drones and missiles to damage or destroy dozens of Moscow’s warships and naval vessels.
Ukrainian operations have forced Russia to relocate the bulk of its Black Sea Fleet from long-held headquarters on the occupied Crimean peninsula to the port of Novorossiysk, on the other side of the region.
This asymmetric warfare campaign has been a bright spot for Ukraine amid the grinding conflict, which has been running for three and a half years with heavy losses on both sides.
Thursday’s drone strikes on the ship came as Russia launched a major attack on Ukraine, launching more than 600 missiles and drones in one of the largest bombardments of the war. Officials said the assault, which targeted Kyiv, killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens more.
President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska earlier this month amid efforts by the White House to secure a deal that could end the war.
Several days after the meeting, Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top European leaders in Washington. However, the back-to-back high-stakes engagements do not appear to have produced any real path forward at this point.
Ukrainian leadership pointed that out in its response to the bombardment. “These Russian missiles and attack drones today are a clear response to everyone in the world who, for weeks and months, has been calling for a ceasefire and for real diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said on Thursday. “Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table.”
Russian state media reported earlier Thursday that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had proposed an air ceasefire as a first step toward ending the war, but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later said there had been no agreement.
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