The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that at night on 1 August 2023, Ukrainian armed forces made an unsuccessful attempt to attack the patrol ships “Sergey Kotov” and “Vasily Bykov” of the Black Sea Fleet with three marine drones.
The ships were allegedly “performing tasks to control navigation in the southwestern part of the Black Sea, 340 km southwest of Sevastopol.”
Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that its ships destroyed three Ukrainian marine drones by fire from guns. The ships “continue to perform their tasks.”
Ukraine didn’t comments on this possible incident so far.
As was reported, Ukraine initiated development of domestic marine drones in 2022, which were involved in several attacks on Russian Black Sea fleet stations in Sevastopol.
On 20 July 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense made a statement, threatening all ships heading to Ukraine. “All ships sailing in the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be considered as potential carriers of military cargo,” the statement said, violating the freedom of navigation. Ukraine responded by reciprocal statement.
On 31 July 2023, at least six ships have flaunted Russia’s threats after it withdrew from the grain deal, and an Israeli one was the first to enter the Ukrainian branch of the Danube. A US P8 anti-ship aircraft is ensuring their safety.