After a combined attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet base, a Russian aircrew ended up in the sea

A Russian aircrew ended up in the water during a combined drone attack on the Russian naval base in Novorossiysk.

This was stated by Russian propagandist Ilya Tumanov, who administers the aviation channel Fighterbomber.

According to his information, the Russian aviation crew ended up in the water after contact with maritime drones, and later was discovered by a civilian cargo ship, which rescued them.

It is not yet known exactly what type of aircraft the crew was flying, but according to his report, the downed aircraft was from an air assault regiment, indicating that it was probably a Su-24 or Su-30 aircraft, which has a two-seat configuration and is part of the 43rd Air Assault Regiment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

In his message, the propagandist also noted that due to the use of such maritime drones, the activities of helicopters were very limited, so fighter aircraft were more suitable due to higher speeds to spend less time in the area of drone air defense.

In addition, on the eve of the attack, Russian Telegram channels reported that a large group of maritime drones, including drones with missiles designed to destroy air targets and FPV drones, had moved towards Crimea and Novorossiysk.

The propaganda channel “Two Majors” also confirmed the significant activity of unmanned maritime drones and published a video of some of them being hit. Nevertheless, judging by the propagandists’ comments, the drones managed to accomplish their task.

It should be noted that this is not the first time that the Russian side has lost aircraft due to drones with missiles. For example, on the morning of December 31, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (GUR) published a video from a Magura maritime drone, which recorded the defeat of two Russian Mi-8 helicopters by R-73 missiles.

The successful liquidation took place in the Black Sea off the coast of occupied Crimea. The combat operation was carried out by the fighters of the Group 13 Special Unit.

The Russians used their aviation to destroy the Ukrainian maritime drones. The video showed that one helicopter immediately crashed into the water after being hit by a missile.

The second Mi-8 was damaged and flew toward the shore to make an emergency landing. Later, the GUR released a recording of a radio intercept of the crew of the damaged Russian helicopter.

Later, Russian propaganda telegram channels related to aviation claimed that the damaged Mi-8 helicopter had not reached the shore and had also crashed into the Black Sea. The occupiers claimed the loss of 16 soldiers who were on board the two downed helicopters.

As a reminder, on the evening of May 2, 2025, an air raid alert was announced in Novorossiysk, in the Krasnodar region, and traffic near the coast was blocked due to the threat of a surface drone attack.

This happened after the Russian Navy put Kalibr surface-to-air cruise missile carriers into the sea. At the time, the Ukrainian Navy reported that there were 15 Russian ships in the Black Sea, five of which were Kalibr cruise missile carriers with a total volley of up to 34 missiles.