Russian Black Sea Fleet Debuts ‘New Method’ To Offset Ukrainian Drones

Russia’s beleaguered Black Sea Fleet has developed a “new method” of fending off persistent Ukrainian naval drone attacks, according to a new analysis.

Why It Matters

While most of its global naval forces remain unscathed, nearly three years of full-scale war with Ukraine has put huge dents in Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet.

Kyiv has homed in on the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin has controlled for more than a decade, but Ukraine has vowed to reclaim. The peninsula served as a main hub for the Black Sea Fleet, but dogged Ukrainian strikes have forced Russia to relocate high-value assets like warships and submarines further east in the Black Sea over the course of the war.

Magura V5 drone — An undated photo provided by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine of a Magura V5 multi-purpose, unmanned surface boat.

Daniyar Sarsenov/Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine via AP

What To Know

Russia’s Defense Ministry said early on Saturday that its fleet in the region had “destroyed one uncrewed boat” in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, heading for Crimea.

Kyiv has successfully challenged Russia’s grip on the Black Sea, close to the southern coastline of mainland Ukraine.

In a later post to messaging app Telegram, Moscow shared footage it said showed Moscow’s defenses taking out a Ukrainian naval drone. The uncrewed surface vessel (USV) was “smashed to pieces,” the Russian government said.

Russia’s influential community of military bloggers suggested that Moscow had used a Kronshtadt Orion missile-capable drone against the naval drone, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. think tank following the conflict, said on Saturday.

The Orion family of airborne drones are made by Russian manufacturer Kronshtadt, and come in many different types.

The bloggers, which are often used as sources of information in lieu of official statements from Moscow, suggested “this strike may be the first documented case of Russian forces leveraging a naval asset to deploy drones capable of destroying Ukrainian naval drones,” the ISW said.

Ukrainian forces are able to shoot down Russian helicopters flying over the Black Sea with missiles launched from Magura V5 naval strike drones, the ISW noted.

Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency developed the Magura V5 naval drones, and have repeatedly deployed them in the Black Sea. Kyiv’s SBU security service operates its own naval drones, known as SeaBaby USVs.

Newsweek has reached out to the GUR and SBU for comment.

The actions on Saturday indicate “Russian forces have developed a new method to try to offset this Ukrainian naval drone adaptation,” the ISW said.

Separately, the SBU said on Sunday that it had detained an agent with Russia’s FSB security service in the southern city of Odesa, who had allegedly spied on Ukrainian vessels in the Black Sea.

Who Said What

Russia’s Defense Ministry in a statement on Saturday: “An uncrewed AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] boat traveling in the direction of the Crimean Peninsula was destroyed by the Black Sea Fleet’s on-duty firepower in the northwestern part of the Black Sea.”