Crimea, Kherson Videos Show Destruction of Russian Landing Boats

Ukraine has released videos showing its military destroying Russian landing boats in annexed Crimea and in the southern region of Kherson.

Ukrainian forces destroyed a high-speed boat in the Uzka Bay in Crimea using a Magura V5 attack marine drone in an overnight attack, Kyiv's military intelligence said on Monday. It published a video of the attack, saying the operation was carried out by Ukraine's Group 13 special forces.

Ukraine has used Magura V5 naval drones in multiple attacks on Russian vessels in recent months, including against the Russian Black Sea Fleet's Ropucha-class landing ship Caesar Kunikov in February.

It's part of Ukraine's ongoing efforts to reclaim the Black Sea peninsula, which was annexed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014. Russia's Black Sea Fleet has suffered extensive casualties throughout the full-scale war in Ukraine that has been raging since 2022.

"As the fear of Ukrainian attacks forces the occupiers to hide the large ships of the Black Sea Fleet away from the peninsula, combat work continues against the high-speed maneuverable warships of the Russians, which are illegally in the Ukrainian territorial waters of Crimea," the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine said.

"We will remind you, that with the help of the Magura V5 attack sea drones, the Russian ships Caesar Kunikov, Ivanovets, Sergey Kotov, Shark and Serna were already destroyed, and the Ivan Khurs was also damaged," the statement added.

On Sunday, Ukraine's 123rd Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces released a video that purportedly shows the moment a Russian speedboat is blown up by a mine in the occupied Kherson region, with the impact throwing some personnel overboard.

The video appears to have been filmed at the Dnieper River. Ukraine has been launching regular raids across the river following its successful liberation of the city of Kherson and the west bank of the river toward the end of 2022. Kyiv's troops reached the occupied side of the Dnieper in mid-October 2023 after extensive cross-river operations.

Newsweek could not independently verify Ukraine's claims about the destruction of the speedboats and reached out to Russia's Defense Ministry for comment via email. The Kremlin hasn't commented on the reports.

Kyiv's military said in an update on Monday that Moscow's forces have so far lost 26 warships and boats since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. The figures were provided by the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, which posts estimates of Russia's troop and equipment losses daily.

Estimates of casualty numbers vary, with Ukraine's figures usually exceeding those of its Western allies. Newsweek could not independently verify Ukraine's figures.

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