How the Caesar Kunikov Warship Was Sunk: Video from the russian Ship and Important Details
The russian propagandist Telegram channel Fighterbomber published a video depicting the Ukrainian naval drones’ attack on the Caesar Kunikov, a large landing ship that was subsequently destroyed in occupied Crimea.
Remind that on February 14, the warship was sunk near the temporarily occupied Crimea by a swarm of Magura V5 kamikaze drones.
Read more: Ukrainian Forces Sink russian Caesar Kunikov Landing Ship (Video)
The video clearly shows that the defense of the ship is solely based on gunfire from machine guns and rifles.
And despite the presence of two paired 57-mm AK-725 automatic guns on the large landing ship, the enemy could not use them.
It is worth noting that, in theory, they are supposed to be all-weather and work at any time of the day since they are guided by the MR-103 Bars fire control system with a radar target detection and tracking system.
Also added to the video, which was taken from the ship and captured two explosions of kamikaze boats, is a narration about how the aggressors tried to repel this attack.
Supposedly, the overall battle lasted for 20 minutes, with a total of 10 drones attacking. Allegedly, the first four were destroyed, and the subsequent six successively inflicted damage to the ship along its port side. In this scenario, the ninth drone struck the Caesar Kunikov, creating a breach, while the tenth did not attack but allegedly attempted to target the tugboat accompanying the large landing ship and purportedly was destroyed.
Let’s note that in the released video from the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine regarding the attack, the approximate number of drones participating in the assault is estimated at 5 units, and the tugboat is not visible in the footage. Also, no destruction of the drone is recorded in the video from the ship, and without an explosion of its warhead, it is objectively quite difficult to assess the shooting results in night conditions.
As mentioned by the russian propagandist Telegram channel, it took about 40 minutes from the moment the kamikaze drones were detected to the complete sinking of the ship.
And this is yet another interesting aspect. So, the ship went underwater in just 20 minutes, but allegedly, this did not prevent the entire crew not only from evacuating but also from taking all the secret documentation and even part of the classified equipment with weapons. And this despite the fact that before going underwater, the ship leaned to one side.
Read more: How Many Ukrainian Magura V5 Drones Needed to Sink russian Sergey Kotov Patrol Ship?