The Ukraine Military recently destroyed Russia’s $65-million warship, which was part of the Black Sea Fleet, in an attack. The news was confirmed by the Kyiv officials in an X post on March 5. ‘Group 13’ of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine carried out the attack.
The Magura V5 naval drones were part of this special operation, Ukrainian military said in the social media post. The Russian warship has been “upgraded to a submarine,” the post said in a not-so-subtle taunt to Moscow.
Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, asserted on Telegram that “The presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet symbolizes occupation. It has no place in Ukrainian Crimea,” in an apparent allusion to the ongoing conflict. Wednesday is the day 742 of the Russia-Ukraine war.
So far, the Russia defence Ministry has not issued any statement regarding the attack. The 1,700-ton, 308-foot warship was inducted in the Black Sea Fleet two years ago in 2022. Before the March 5,2023 attack, the Sergei Kotov warship had been targeted in three attacks by Kyiv.
In a separate development, Russian officials and the owner of one of Russia’s largest iron ore plants confirmed that two Ukrainian drones targeted fuel facilities on Wednesday. Despite the attack, there were no reported injuries, and the plant continued to operate normally. Kursk governor Roman Starovoit stated that a second drone struck the Mikhailovsky GOK iron ore plant, owned by Metalloinvest, approximately two hours after the initial strike was announced.