The moment a Ukrainian shipkiller drone smacks into a Russian vessel in the Black Sea is captured on video.
The Admiral Makarov, a Russian Navy Project 11356 frigate launched in September 2015, is thought to be the target vessel.
According to a Russian Defense Ministry statement, the October 29 attack included 8 UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and 7 USVs (self-guided torpedoes).
Ukraine claims to have damaged “several” Russian warships during the early Saturday morning strike.
According to reliable sources, Admiral Makarov and the Project 266M minesweeper Ivan Golubets were damaged.
Admiral Makarov was named the flagship of Putin’s Black Sea Fleet after the guided missile cruiser Moskva was hit by two Ukrainian R-360 Neptune anti-ship missiles and destroyed in April.
An official statement said, “Following the loss of Moskva, one of the three projects 11356 frigates may become the new flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet. So far, the Admiral Makarov has been chosen.”
The Admiral Makarov may have been specifically targeted in response to the salvos of Kalibr land-attack cruise missiles it ha sbeen using to bombard Ukrainian cities,
According to Russian naval sources quoted by Forbes, the Admiral Makarov’s radar was severely damaged in the drone attack and Ivan Golubets was holed at or near the waterline.
Despite a column of smoke seen rising from Sevastopol’s harbour, official Russian sources claimed naval defences had repelled the attack without damage.
The weapon used in the attack is believed to be of the same type found beached near the major Russian Navy base of Sevastopol in Crimea late last month.
The canoe-sized torpedo, which tracks its targets via infra-red video, is so small as to be virtually undetectable by conventional shipboard radar.
It appears to be designed to collide with another ship before exploding its high-explosive warhead.
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