The Ukrainian Military announced on Wednesday that a successful naval surface drone operation sank Russia’s Tsezar Kunikov landing ship in the Black Sea. The vessel was off the coast of Alupka on the southern edge of Crimea. Ukraine’s GUR intelligence agency posted a video of the operation on Telegram.
The GUR stated the warship spent about 10 days at a Russian military loading site before it departed, indicating the ship was loaded with supplies and crew when it sank. The Tsezar Kunikov was a Project 775 warship, one of Russia’s newest models with a crew of 87 sailors. Ukraine has no large naval vessels to counter Russia’s military presence along its key maritime export route, but has successfully tested the Russian navy through asymmetric naval drone operations. Since the start of the war, Ukrainian forces have destroyed 20% of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. A Ukrainian Navy spokesperson stated Russia only has five large landing ships left in the Black Sea.
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