The Russian reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs was seemingly hit by an unmanned surface vessel in the Black Sea new video shows.
A Russian warship operating in the Black Sea was hit and left burning by a Ukrainian drone boat, news reports and social media reported on Wednesday.
The Kyiv Post news agency citing the government social media website Dumska said the vessel was a “Ivan Khurs” spy ship. The usually-reliable Gruz200 military news web platform said a naval source confirmed that a Ukrainian drone boat struck the vessel.
The Dumska statement likewise said a Ukrainian drone boat hit the ship, and that “large numbers” of Russian aircraft were circling overhead.
A maritime ship tracker showed a Russian rescue ship identified as Ivan Khurs en route to the location following a Wednesday dispatch. An aviation tracker website showed a US Air Force Global Hawk long-range reconnaissance drone over the location.
The Ukrainian Navy confirmed the strike. The Livemap military information graphic resource said the vessel was an Ivan Khurs spy ship.
Ukrainian parliament member Oleksiy Honcharenko in a web statement claimed the warship hit was the Ivan Khurs, a vessel known to have been operating in the west Black Sea for more than a month.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet’s largest warship and flagship, the Moskva and Makarov, was sunk, after being struck by two Ukrainian anti-ship missiles.
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