Ukrainian naval drone destroys raid tugboat in Crimea

On the night of Thursday, June 6, the Ukrainian military destroyed a Russian naval vessel off the coast of temporarily occupied Crimea.

The press service of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reported on this.

According to intelligence reports, a successful strike was launched against a Russian Project 498 Saturn or Proteus raid tugboat.

The UAV was operated by operators of the 9th Special Forces Unit of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

The tugboat of the Russian invaders was hit in the waters of Lake Panske in the west of the Crimean peninsula.

The footage shows a Ukrainian naval drone approaching the Russian vessel’s anchorage and striking it.

The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine noted that the devastating fire damage was inflicted on the Russian tugboat after it successfully broke through the invaders’ line of defensive barriers in the Black Sea.

Since the Soviet era, the Project 498 Saturn raid tugboats have been used in the Soviet and Russian navies under the codename Proteus.

These vessels are an important element of Russia’s maritime infrastructure and naval bases on the temporarily occupied peninsula.

On the night of May 30, the Ukrainian military dealt a serious strike to Russia’s maritime logistics capabilities in occupied Crimea.

A combined attack by the Ukrainian Defense Forces on Russian facilities in Crimea on the night of May 30 resulted in the destruction of a number of maritime logistics vessels and boats.

Through dense fire, Ukrainian drones broke through to Vuzka Bay and hit two KC-701 Tunets high-speed transport and amphibious boats, which were standing on the dock.