The Russian Ministry of Defense published a video showing surface drones attacking a Russian reconnaissance ship in the Black Sea.

The video was released by the Russian propaganda media.

The Ivan Khurs ship was attacked on May 24 at 5:30 by three USVs, 140 kilometers northeast of the Bosphorus Strait.

The published video shows one of the USVs approaching the side of the ship at high speed, but the crew manages to target it with a heavy machine gun at a distance of several dozen meters.

According to the Russian military, all surface drones were destroyed by fire from the standard weapons of the Russian ship. The Ivan Khurs ship continued to perform the tasks.

An Unknown drone

It is worth noting that the unmanned surface vehicle captured in the video does not look like the previously shown Ukrainian drones.

Compared to the Ukrainian sea drones shown earlier, the drone, captured on video on May 24, has a massive superstructure in the aft-body hull niche, as well as the ribbed shape of the sides below the waterline. It is also possible to note a rather high mast located in the middle part of the hull.

The inscription in large white letters can be seen on the left side of the boat.

USV attacks

This is not the first attack by surface drones on the ships of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation. In October 2022, naval drones attacked the Russian Admiral Makarov frigate (Project 11356R), which became in fact the flagship of the Russian fleet after the sinking of the Moskva guided missile cruiser.

During the October incident, the Russian Ivan Golubets minesweeper was damaged.

Attacks by surface kamikaze drones, together with the rise of anti-ship missile systems in service with Ukraine, forced the Russian fleet to suspend operations in the Black Sea. Since October 2022, most of the Russian warships have been safely in the Sevastopol port, some of them were relocated to the port in Novorossiysk.

Since then, at least three more planned operations with the use of naval drones have taken place. So, in November 2022, Sheskharis oil harbor was attacked in Novorossiysk.

Subsequently, in 2023, on March 24 and April 24, there were attacks by USVs on Sevastopol Bay, where the operating base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is based.