Images appearing on social media lead military experts to believe Ukraine used a new type of naval drone in an attack launched Tuesday on the port city of Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet base.
Attack on the Sevastopol naval basePhoto: Video Capture
The situation was explained on site-ul by military analyst HI Sutton, a specialist in naval technology, noting that the development of the drone appears to have been at least partly financed by Monobank, an online bank that has become known for raising funds for the Ukrainian armed forces and foreign volunteer fighters alongside these.
An image of the drone model also appeared on the bank’s website, with Sutton noting that while it has not been confirmed that it was directly involved in Tuesday’s attack, it does not appear to be a coincidence that images of it have just now been released.
Despite the image, details about the drone are almost non-existent. It appears smaller and with a more aerodynamic overall shape than the previous model developed by the Ukrainians.
Sutton also notes that while no recording cameras, sensors, or communications antennas can be seen in the image, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist, but that they can be masked to hide the drone’s key features and capabilities.
A first video recording of the attack that took place in the early hours of the morning also appeared on social networks.
The footage shows that 3 drones participated in the attack, one of them being stopped by the protective barriers at the port entrance, but the other two managing to “jump” over them. But these too were destroyed inside the port by the defense forces.
#war Another video of the breakthrough ofuD83CuDDFAuD83CuDDE6drones on Sevastopol harbor in the early morning of March 22. One of them was stopped by a booms at the entrance to the harbor and exploded. Two others managed to jump over the booms and they were destroyed already in the harbor. pic.twitter.com/3bWHShWwEx
— Capt(N) (@Capt_Navy) March 23, 2023
Russian media wrote on Tuesday morning that Sevastopol was attacked by naval drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but that the Russian Black Sea fleet repelled the attack. The Russian administration in Sevastopol later said it had suspended ferry routes.
Naval drones, one of Ukraine’s most closely guarded secrets
In September of last year, the first photos of a drone of unknown origin near the naval base in Sevastopol appeared on Russian social networks and Telegram channels, which was discovered by the Russians.
The images took even military analysts by surprise because Ukraine had not announced anything about the development of a maritime drone and such a success would be all the more remarkable since Russian bombing leveled its armaments industry in the first weeks of the war.
Analysts at Naval News speculated at the time that the curved shape and reinforced exterior suggested it was armed with a warhead, with one theory being that the drone was designed to explode when it entered another ship, being a more modern version of an explosive boat.
This would also explain the sensors that can be seen on the front of the unmanned craft.
Later, on October 29, several videos of naval drones attacking the Sevastopol naval base appeared on social media.
One of the recordings appears to show how Ukrainian maritime drones were able to get very close to the Russian frigate “Admiral Makarov” and apparently hit it. Later, the minesweeper “Ivan Golubets” was also hit. Another video shows a maritime drone appearing to be attacked by a Russian ship and even a helicopter.
HI Sutton noted at the time that the type of drone used in the attack was the same as the one found in September near the base.
“Small and fast” drones allegedly damaged the ship “Admiral Makarov”
The Ukrainian authorities only admitted on November 11 that they used naval drones in attacks on the Russian fleet stationed in Crimea, but even then the information was confirmed by a press release from the government platform United24, dedicated to raising funds for a fleet of maritime drones .
Even then, the statement was limited to stating that “on October 29, 2022, mairitme drones struck Russian ships, [într-o operațiune] conducted exclusively with unmanned devices” and that “small and fast” drones damaged three Russian ships, including the “Admiral Makarov”.
Then, on November 19, the Ukrainians appear to have carried out another attack with a maritime drone, this time at the oil terminal of the large Russian port of Novorossiysk.
Images of an explosion in the port appeared on social media, while information and news on the subject was deleted from Russian news sites.
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