Ukrainian Naval Drones Take Down russian Ivanovets Missile Corvette (Video)
OkDefence Intelligence of Ukraine reports a successful maritime attack on an enemy military ship of the russian navy on the night of February 1st, 2024. The Ivanovets missile corvette was caught when it was on a patrol in the Black Sea near the Donuzlav lake in Crimea. Ukrainian forces from the Group 13 special unit deployed multiple explosive boat drones, which managed to destroy the vessel.
“After a series of direct hits to the hull, the russian ship suffered damage, incompatible with further movement – Ivanovets rolled over to the stern and sank,” the statement from Defense Intelligence reads, and adds that russian search and rescue operation preliminary was to no success.
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In the video, we can see that 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. War Ukraine-Russia News Hub covered the specs and capabilities of this weapon here.
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. Now the russian Black Sea Fleet only has two corvettes of this type remaining in service.
Read more: Ukrainian Navy Commander Outlined Two Objectives in Sea War Against russia