TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Ukraine said its forces attacked two Russian patrol ships operating in the Black Sea and destroyed a sophisticated “Triumf” surface-to-air missile defense system in Crimea, with military analysts describing the loss of such equipment as “tactical failures” by Russia.
The attacks reported on Thursday followed a day after Kyiv said it had carried out a missile strike that badly damaged a Russian submarine and a naval landing ship that were undergoing repairs in a shipyard in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
In a post on the Telegram messaging app on Thursday, Ukraine’s military said it hit two Russian patrol vessels in a southwest region of the Black Sea, causing “certain damage” in a morning attack, Al Jazeera reported.
“The (Sergei) Kotov was hit,” military intelligence official Andriy Yusov told the Reuters news agency, sharing a grainy video circulated online by a Ukrainian government minister that appeared to show sea drones attacking a vessel at sea.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed an attack on the Sergei Kotov ship in a morning statement but said the assault involving five sea drones was repelled. It made no mention of damage.
Ukraine’s military also said it had hit a Russian air defense system in a long-range attack in the early hours of Thursday near the town of Yevpatoriya in the west of Crimea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made special reference to the Crimea attack in his nightly message to the nation on Thursday.
“I thank you for today’s triumph – the destruction of the occupiers’ air defense system on the land of our Crimea. It is a very significant achievement. Well done!” he said.
A Ukrainian intelligence source said that aerial combat drones first incapacitated the Russian air defense system by attacking its radar and antenna and that two Neptune cruise missiles were fired and had destroyed the defense system’s launchers.
Footage circulated on social media showed powerful explosions and a plume of smoke rising in the night sky, illuminated by a blaze.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 11 drones overnight over the peninsula and did not mention damage.
