`Special unit Group 13 of Ukrainian military intelligence attacked a Russian patrol ship in a coordinated operation with the navy,` the General Directorate of Military Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR) announced on March 5.
GUR said they used an unmanned suicide boat (USV) Magura V5 to attack the Sergey Kotov ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet operating near the Kerch Strait, located between Russia’s Krasnodar region and the Crimean peninsula.
Ukraine announced it had sunk a $65 million Russian warship
Ukrainian suicide boat attacked Russian patrol ship Sergey Kotov on March 5.
`After the attack of the Magura V5 boat, the Project 22160 ship Sergey Kotov was damaged in the stern and both sides,` GUR said.
On the same day, a number of military Telegram channels and Russian media reported that the Ukrainian armed forces carried out a large-scale raid on the Crimean peninsula, using drones to target targets on the ground.
RusVesna website said about a dozen suicide boats crashed into the patrol ship Sergey Kotov, making it difficult for this warship to avoid.
Some Russian news sites said the Crimea bridge was also among the targets attacked.
Rybar Channel identified the Crimean peninsula and the Black Sea Fleet `as Ukraine’s top target for attacks, when their reputation was seriously damaged because the stronghold of Avdeevka fell and the landing campaign on Tendrovskaya island was repelled.`
Ukrainian suicide boat attacks Crimea bridge, Russian warship
The Russian patrol ship Sergey Kotov was attacked by a Ukrainian suicide boat near the Crimean peninsula on March 5.
Ukraine has repeatedly used missiles, UAVs and suicide boats to attack targets in and around Crimea, the peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014. The Ukrainian Navy announced that it had disabled 40 warships and ships of the Sea Fleet.
Ukrainian forces also repeatedly attacked the Crimean bridge, also known as the Kerch bridge, connecting the peninsula and the rest of Russia.
The warship Sergey Kotov belongs to the Project 22160 class of large patrol ships, specializing in patrol, surveillance and protection tasks in sea areas.
The ship is equipped with an AK-176MA 76.2 mm dual-purpose automatic gun, two 14.5 mm guns, and a DP-64 double-barreled anti-commando grenade launcher.
Crimea bridge location.