Ukraine’s surface drones sink Russian Black Sea Fleet’s Ivanovets missile boat

Ukraine reports the successful sinking of the Ivanovets, a Russian missile corvette, in the Black Sea. It’s at least 17th Russian ship destroyed/damaged during the all-out war.

Ukrainian forces sank another vessel of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet using surface drones, according to the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.

Since the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine managed to destroy or severely damage at least 16 Russian Navy ships prior to the sinking of the Ivanovets – today’s addition to the collection. The Russian Navy’s previous losses included the Moskva cruiser, which was the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, the Novecherkassk large landing ship, the Rostov-on-Don submarine, and multiple other vessels.

“Overnight from 31 January to 1 February 2024, soldiers of the HUR’s Group 13 special unit destroyed the Ivanovets missile boat of the Russian Black Sea Fleet,” HUR reported.

Ivanovets had spotted the incoming naval drones and was trying to pull ahead and opened machine gun fire to no avail. The first two drones hit the stern and render the warship incapable of moving, and several more finish it off with hits to the side. The total number of drones involved is at least six units.

Worth noting, the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine is known to operate only one type of unmanned combat surface vehicle, the Magura V5. The declared payload of this UCSV is 300 kg of explosives, and the operational range is up to 800 km. 

The Ivanovets missile boat, a russian designation for a missile-carrying corvette, belongs to Project 1241 Molniya warship class, it was launched into the sea in 1989. Its value is estimated at nearly $60–70 million. The standard armament is four P-270 Moskit anti-ship missiles with an attack range of 90 to 120 km in older versions or 240–250 km in newer ones, according to russian declarations. The crew consists of 41 people, the water displacement is 493 tons, length is 56 meters. That is, despite being classified as a "boat," it is a rather large combat unit.  

According to the Directorate, the Russian naval vessel was patrolling the Black Sea near Lake Donuzlav off the western coast of the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.

“Due to a series of direct hits to the hull, the Russian ship sustained damage incompatible with further movement, the Ivanovets heeled to the stern and sank. The cost of the ship lost by the aggressor state is approximately $60-70 million,” HUR noted.

In its report, the intelligence agency did not mention the weapon used in the attack, but the footage it shared shows the first-person view of a surface uncrewed vessel attack on the Russian ship.

HUR says its preliminary reports showed that the search and rescue operation of the Russian forces at Donuzlav was unsuccessful.

“The operation was made possible with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the United24 platform,” HUR wrote.

In December 2023, the UK Defense Secretary stated that 20% of Russia’s Black Sea fleet had been destroyed by Ukraine over four previous months.

Sources: EuromaidanPress, Defence Express