- A newly surfaced video shows what appears to be a Russian ship attempting to flee from a group of Ukrainian sea drones.
- In the footage, crew members appear to be trying to shoot the drones with machine guns.
A newly surfaced video circulating online appears to show a pack of exploding Ukrainian sea drones chasing down a Russian warship as the crew tries and fails to shoot and eliminate the vessels that ultimately destroyed it.
The footage, which appears to have been taken from a nearby cargo ship, is the latest highlighting the continued threat these drones pose to Russian naval forces — and Russia's inadequate attempts to defend against them.
The warship in the video has been identified by open-source intelligence accounts as the Project 22160 large Russian patrol ship Sergey Kotov, which was sunk in an early Tuesday morning naval drone attack. The new video suggests it tried to flee but was unable to escape.
This was the fourth attack against the Kotov since Russia's full-scale invasion began. Previous incidents occurred in July, August, and September of last year.
Throughout the footage, crew members on the ship appear to be firing machine guns at the drones, failing to hit the swift, difficult-to-spot vessels in the pitch black waves. Towards the end of the video, a few of the drones are spotted sailing in the water, following the Kotov. Efforts to shoot and destroy them look futile.
The Kotov was hit and sunk near the Kerch Strait, making it the latest victim of Ukraine's extensive naval drone operations.
Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence confirmed the use of MAGURA V5 drones in the attack, writing on Telegram that the Kotov had "sustained damage to the stern, starboard, and port sides." The Ukrainians said that the attack on the $65 million warship killed 13 Russian sailors. Fifty-two were reportedly evacuated.
Remarkable footage from Tuesday morning, showing the Russian patrol ship Sergey Kotov attempting to flee from a flock of Ukrainian MAGURA V5 USVs, while the Russian crew desperately try to engage the Ukrainian craft with small arms fire. pic.twitter.com/ZLV2IuoZiG
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 6, 2024
Other footage said to be from the same incident and shared on Telegram captured the exact moment a naval drone collided with the Kotov, causing a massive explosion. Prior to that, the footage showed a heavy amount of gunfire as the crew tried to stop the sea drones.
A video from the Ukrainian attack on the Russian Project 22160 large patrol ship Sergey Kotov in Feodosia last night, capturing the moment when the warship was hit by one of the USVs. https://t.co/HMKC2mpZaB pic.twitter.com/Z8mJmbNnZZ
— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) March 5, 2024
And Ukraine also released its own footage of the attack offering a first-person view from the onboard cameras on the attack drones.
| Russian Project 22160 large patrol ship Sergey Kotov destroyed by the Ukrainians.
— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) March 5, 2024
The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense (HUR MO) released footage from an attack with unmanned surface vessels (USVs) on the Project 22160 large patrol… pic.twitter.com/hMgVdzJ0sF
Russian milbloggers decried the incident, according to an update from The Institute for the Study of War, blaming the Russian military for its "lack of response to the incident and mounting a wider critique against the bureaucratic inertia of the Russian military apparatus."
One prominent blogger said the Kotov "was inadequately equipped to defend itself against such an attack," ISW wrote," and many milbloggers questioned "why the ship did not have systems to defend against naval drones considering the crew had experienced similar attacks before."
The Kotov's only employed defenses appear to have been its crew-served machine guns, which are ill-equipped to aim and destroy the fast-moving sea drones, especially at night.
The latest attack on a Russian Black Sea Fleet ship comes on the heels of another successful attack last month. In February, Ukraine reported sinking the Project 775 Ropucha-class landing ship Caesar Kunikov using sea drones.
Video footage that appeared online this week showed the Kunikov's crew members firing machine guns wildly into the water, unable to stop the quick-moving drones.
February 14, 2024: The Russian crew of the Project 775 Ropucha-class landing ship Caesar Kunikov (BDK-64) attempt to repel a Ukrainian attack with unmanned surface vessels (USVs) on their warship.
— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) March 6, 2024
Ultimately, Caesar Kunikov (BDK-64) sank after being hit multiple times by USVs. https://t.co/4XYsK2WFPY pic.twitter.com/3Wg4AjaDQW
Business Insider is unable to independently verify video footage or Ukraine's claims of sinking these vessels.
Ukraine's success with naval drones, particularly in hurting Russian naval forces in the Black Sea, has been a major achievement in the war. Although Russia has appeared to slowly but surely step up efforts to defend itself against the threat, those efforts appear flimsy and, thus far, ineffective.