The remote-controlled combat boats were launched at night near the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, the Russian Defense Ministry announced in Moscow on Sunday. The boats initially used the sea corridor set aside for transporting grain, and then set course for Sevastopol. Evidence of this was not attached to the written communication.
Russian experts read the route from the electronics of the swimming drones. It can be assumed that at least one drone at sea was launched from one of the grain ships. This was also not documented – no ship name was given either. The navigation technology of the kayak-shaped boats came from Canada, it said. Moscow repeated the accusation that British instructors helped the Ukrainians with the operation.
Officially, Moscow speaks of minor damage from the attack by combat drones at sea and from the air. The exact extent is not known. For the Russian warfare against Ukraine, however, it means that the Black Sea Fleet, the heart of the military power in the annexed Crimea, is not safe from attack.