Russian occupying forces are trying to lift their sunken boat.

The General Staff of the Armored Forces of Ukraine reported on this.

Near the temporarily occupied Ukrainian island of Zmiyinyi, the Russians carried out hoisting and rescue operations at the site of the destruction of their boat.

“In the waters of the Black Sea, near Zmiyinyi Island, the ongoing hoisting and rescue operations have been noted at the site of the destruction of the Russian landing boat,” the statement reads.

The Russian invaders are probably trying to lift the sunken Serna-class landing vessel, which was destroyed by a Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 UAV.

Previously, on May 7 and 8, the Defense Forces of Ukraine struck a number of blows on Zmiyinyi Island. In particular, destroyed were the landing ship, up to 5 Raptor high-speed patrol boats, the Mi-8 helicopter with the landing craft, and the island’s infrastructure.

Later it was announced that the Russians are trying to fix their positions on the Ukrainian island of Zmiyinyi and regain control after the recent defeat by the Defense Forces of Ukraine.

Russians have also brought a floating crane to the island, probably of project 02690.

A floating crane has probably arrived on the island to lift the sunken boat and make the approach to the Zmiyinyi island safe for other ships.

“Serna” is a high-speed landing motorboat of project 11770. It is designed for landing the wheeled and tracked military equipment along with a paratrooper unit (up to 92 people) on the unprepared coast. Serna’s feature is the high speed for this type of boat – up to 30 knots.

Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated that the island is of strategic importance for both Ukraine and the Russian invaders as it allows to control the ground surface and, to some extent, the air situation in the south of Ukraine.

Zmiyinyi Island is also strategically important in terms of Russia’s ability to execute a tactical naval landing. According to Major General Kyrylo Budanov, this is theoretically the only region through which the Russian invaders could try to reach the territory of the occupied Transnistrian region of Moldova.