Series of Ukrainian Strikes Completely Disable Russian Reconnaissance Ship Ivan Khurs

A series of Ukrainian attacks carried out in 2023, 2024, and 2026 completely disabled the Russian Black Sea Fleet reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs.

New photos and videos of the damaged ship were published by the Crimean Wind Telegram channel.

The published materials show that the damaged Project 18280 ship is moored in the Oil Harbor of the temporarily occupied Sevastopol, bearing signs of significant damage and missing a large portion of its equipment.

In particular, part of the ship’s bridge has been completely demolished, and the smokestack is missing. The mast, which previously housed key communications and electronic surveillance antennas, is currently completely covered by construction scaffolding.

In addition, no special equipment remains on the ship’s stern, and its bow and deck are now tightly covered with camouflage netting.

Ivan Khurs Project 18280

Project 18280 ships, developed by the Iceberg Central Design Bureau, are intended to provide communications and fleet command, conduct radio reconnaissance and electronic warfare, as well as monitor missile defense and air defense systems. According to the plan, each Russian fleet was to have one such ship.

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The Ivan Khurs became the second ship in the series. Its keel was laid on November 14, 2013, at the main slipway of the Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg. Construction was delayed due to a series of modifications based on operational experience with the lead ship. The launch took place on May 16, 2017. It was commissioned into the Navy on June 25, 2018.

The initial plan called for the ship to be transferred to the Pacific Fleet. However, in April 2017, the medium reconnaissance ship Liman sank in the Black Sea after colliding with the livestock carrier Youzarsif-H. The fleet received the Ivan Khurs as a replacement.

Tactical and technical characteristics of the Ivan Khurs Project 18280 ship:

• Full displacement: 4,000 tons.
• Dimensions: length — 96 m, width — 16 m, draft — 4 m.
• Propulsion system: two 5DRA diesel-gear units with 11D42 (8CHN30/38) diesel engines manufactured by the Kolomna Locomotive Works plant.
• Power: 3,900 kW, or 5,300 hp.
• Propulsion: two controllable-pitch propellers.
• Speed: up to 20 knots.
• Range: 8,000 nautical miles at a speed of 16 knots.
• Crew: 131 personnel.

Armament:

• Machine gun armament: two to four MTPU pedestal mounts with 14.5 mm Vladimirov large-caliber machine guns, designed to engage lightly armored targets and for use as anti-aircraft mounts.
• Anti-aircraft armament: Igla man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems.

The navigation, communications, and radio-electronic reconnaissance system includes the MR-231-3 navigation radar, the Mostik-18280 radio-electronic system for positioning, localization, detection, and orientation, and the Podzagolovok-23 electronic compatibility system.

The Defense Forces first struck this reconnaissance ship using a maritime drone in May 2023.

The Ivan Khurs was struck again in March 2024 by a missile strike. At that time, one of the missiles hit the stern of the ship.

The latest attack took place on the night of April 26, 2026, when fighters from the Special Operations Center «А» of the Security Service of Ukraine informally known as Alpha Group struck a number of targets in the temporarily occupied Crimea using strike drones.