Ukrainian Bayraktar destroyed two Russian boats near Zmiyinyi Island

Ukrainian Defense Forces have destroyed two Russian Raptor-class boats.

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has announced the Russian boats being neutralized.

Two Russian Raptor-class boats were destroyed near Zmiyinyi Island in the Black Sea early on May 2.

The video featuring the neutralization of naval equipment of the Russian invaders was published on social networks.

The Russian boats were struck by a Bayraktar TB2 drone, shared Lieutenant-General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The footage shows a Russian multi-purpose Raptor-class boat being hit by a guided munition, which was followed by an explosion and a fire.

This is not the first case when the invader high-speed boats of this class were damaged or plain destroyed by the Defense Forces of Ukraine.

On March 21, 2022, the Azov Special Operations Detachment announced the destruction of the Russian boat of the 03160 Raptor project in the Mariupol area. The next day, the Russian media which specializes in the Russian navy confirmed that the boat had indeed been hit by the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

The Raptor-class patrol and landing boats were developed by the design bureau of JSC Leningrad Shipyard “Pella” on the basis of the Swedish CombatBoat 90 fast assault craft and are basically a licensed version of the Swedish boat.

The main task is to patrol the coastal water area (bays, estuaries) and waters of naval bases, delivery or evacuation of SOF and Marine groups, detection, interception, and detention of small targets. 17 such speedboats were built for the Russian Navy.

The Bayraktar TB2 is a Turkish-made medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicle.

The first batch of the Bayraktar TB2 system was ordered by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in November 2018, and in March 2019, the UAV arrived in Ukraine and conducted demonstration flights. Last year, the Ukrainian Navy Forces received the first Bayraktar TB2 UAV system.