Ukrainian sea-drone operator describes taking out a Russian ship, says the tech is redefining warfare

• A Ukrainian sea-drone operator took out a Russian patrol ship, per The New York Times.
• His "whole" team was "filled with emotion" when he struck it in September, he told the newspaper.

A Ukrainian sea-drone operator shared his experience of taking out a Russian ship with a waterborne drone in an interview with The New York Times.

The operator asked to only be identified by a nickname, "Thirteen."

He insisted, too, on other security measures like wearing a ski mask for the interview, the Times reported.

In his interview, Thirteen argued that sea drones were a new frontier of warfare that are transforming naval warfare — with Ukraine in the vanguard.

Thirteen and his fellow described piloting a swarm of drones towards the Russian ship, the Sergey Kotov corvette, in September.

He said that his drone came under fire, causing it to explode early. But it was still close enough for the explosion to damage the Sergey Kotov, making the mission a success.

"When we hit the target, the whole team, of course, was filled with emotion," Thirteen said.

Russia said the attack actually failed. Business Insider was unable to verify the status of the Sergey Kotov — but the ship does not seem to have been pictured since.

Thirteen also described the attack in an earlier interview with The Times of London, arguing that the low cost of the drones makes them especially useful.

"These weapons are extremely effective," he said. "If we just imagine roughly what it costs to build ships like the Kotov and to train the crews — it takes years to build and crew ships like that. Even if we count all the drones used in an attack on one, they are thousands of times cheaper."

In the NYT interview, Thirteen said there are "no instructors, no textbooks" when it comes to using the drones. "We are writing these books now," he said.

The Ukrainian sea-drone operators carried out the attack with Playstation-like consoles from hundreds of miles away from Ukraine's coast, per the newspaper.

And their repeated attacks have paid off, Thirteen said — crediting them for Ukraine's success pushing Russian ships out of much of the Black Sea.

In November, Ukraine's military intelligence posted footage showing a particular daring sea-drone strike — on two landing ships while they were at port in occupied Crimea.

Thirteen claimed responsibility for that attack as well in the Times of London article.

Ukraine said the drones sank both of the Russian landing vessels, and provided a satellite photograph of the docking area on Telegram to prove it.