At least four Russian ships were damaged by remote mining from Sea Baby drones of the Security Service of Ukraine.

The Wall Street Journal reported on this, citing sources in the SSU.

The article says that Sea Baby naval drones have laid more than 15 underwater mines near the Crimean waters on routes used exclusively by Russian warships.

In describing the work of these SSU surface drones, the publication reports that after the first use of Sea Baby, the Russians built larger barriers at the entrance to Sevastopol Bay, which made further strikes almost impossible. Therefore, the SSU team that deals with naval drones came up with an alternative in the form of laying sea mines.

According to American journalists, for a month and a half, a specialized SSU team monitored the routes of ships and civilian transport in the Black Sea near the temporarily occupied peninsula before sending Sea Baby to plant two mines.

It is stated that on September 14, 2023, the Russian corvette Samum had exploded on one of the mines. After that, it is still undergoing repairs in a dry dock.

Over the following weeks, Sea Baby drones reportedly planted about 15 more mines.

During one of the flights, a Ukrainian drone detected by three Raptor-class patrol boats opened fire with a grenade launcher, hitting the enemy boat, journalists write, citing a conversation with SSU Brigadier General Ivan Lukashevych, better known by his call sign Hunter.

And on October 11, the Russian patrol ship Pavel Derzhavin punctured its side while entering Sevastopol Bay, when it was sailing into the port for maintenance.

Journalists report that on October 13, the patrol ship Pavel Derzhavin was redirected to another port for repairs, but while leaving Sevastopol Bay, it again hit a mine. A large tugboat was sent to rescue it, but it also hit a mine and had to be towed back to the port.

According to the WSJ, a few days later, the explosion also damaged the newest reconnaissance and hydrographic ship, the Vladimir Kozitsky.

Sea Baby drone

The displacement of this drone varies from 1 to 5 tons, which should provide excellent performance in the coastal zone. In addition, such sizes will allow their deployment on the unprepared coast. The deployment of the Ukrainian ‘Sea Baby’ naval drone equipped with rocket weapons in December 2023 marked the first use of such a drone in targeting an enemy surface warship armed with integrated weaponry. In May, Ukraine began using naval drones with anti-aircraft missiles in combat operations. The naval drones were equipped with R-73 missiles. Also, Ukrainian engineers installed a Grad MRL 122-mm rocket launcher on the Sea Baby naval drone.