Ukrainian Military Recognizes Attack On Russian Air Defense Ships And Systems

Ukrainian military illustration on the battlefield. (Wikimedia Commons/30th Prince Constanty Ostragski Mechanized Brigade)

JAKARTA - The Ukrainian military on Thursday said it had successfully launched an attack on Russian patrol boats and destroyed an air defense system west of occupied Crimea, raising opposition to Moscow's dominance in the Black Sea region.

The attack came a day after Kyiv said it was seriously damaging Russian submarines and landing ships that were undergoing repairs in a missile strike at the Sevastopol Shipyard, Crimea, home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

The Ukrainian military, in a post on Telegram, said it attacked two Russian patrol boats in the southwest of the Black Sea, causing "certain damage" in a morning attack.

"(Sergei) Kotov was hit by an attack," military intelligence official Andriy Yusov told Reuters as reported September 15, while sharing a video circulated online by a Ukrainian government minister showing a marine drone attacking a ship at sea.

The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the attack on Sergei Kotov in his morning statement, but said an attack involving five marine drones was foiled. The damage was not disclosed.

Citing Eurasiantimes, Britain's Ministry of Defense in an intelligence update on July 26 said the Sergei Kotov Patrol Vessel was stationed in the Black Sea after Russia withdrew from the Grain Agreement. The ship's patrol route between Boshporus and Odesa intercepted a commercial ship suspected of leading to Ukraine.

In addition, the Ukrainian military also said it had attacked Russia's air defense system, in a long-range attack on Thursday morning near the city of Yevpatoriya, west of Crimea, which Moscow captured in 2014.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 26 July 2023.Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/eqGEfaCnrU🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/RtJT97YzAT

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) July 26, 2023

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 26 July 2023.Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/eqGEfaCnrU🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/RtJT97YzAT

Footage circulating on social media shows a devastating explosion and puffs of smoke rising into the night sky illuminated by flames.

Ukrainian intelligence sources told Reuters drones were blinding Russian air defense systems by attacking their radar and antennas, and two Neptune cruise missiles were fired at their launchers.

The location of the attack in the southwest will show Ukraine's ability to strike Russian targets far from its shores.

Although Kyiv's retaliatory attacks in the south and east have been slowed down by Russian minefields and defensive lines, fighting has escalated in the Black Sea region, where Russia de facto has imposed a blockade on Ukrainian exports by sea.

Russian drones regularly attack Ukrainian port infrastructure along the Danube River, which is an important alternative export route for major seed producers. They used the Black Sea Fleet to shower missiles on Ukrainian targets from afar.

Separately, senior Ukrainian Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said his party was focused on three main tasks aimed at eliminating the occupation of the peninsula, which is well behind the fighting line in southern Ukraine.

Kyiv, he said, targeted the air defense system to pave the way for further attacks on Russian military infrastructure and warehouses. Kyiv also attacked transport logistics to "stop large-scale supply of resources and reserves into active warfare areas," he said.

"We need to expel the remnants of the Russian Black Sea fleet from the territorial waters of Crimea and its surroundings, as well as restore the status of the Black Sea as an external jurisdictional sea," he wrote in English.

It is known, Russia considers the Crimean Peninsula strategically important and uses its Black Sea Fleet to project its strength.