Dramatic moment Putin's £50m warship carrying 50 sailors is blown up and 'SUNK' by Ukrainian kamikaze drone boats in major scalp
UKRAINE claims to have sunk another Russian warship – with 50 sailors on board – using kamikaze drones.
Images shared today by Ukraine Department of Defense showed the dramatic moment the boats were rushing towards Vladimir Putin's £55 million Black Sea rocket ship “Ivanovets” and sent it bursting into flames.
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The Ukrainian government's defense intelligence service announced the hit on the 184-foot warship via the Telegram messaging service.
It read: “'Ivanovets' at the bottom – as a result of a special operation of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense, an enemy missile boat was destroyed.”
The department claimed that soldiers from its special unit “Group 13” destroyed the missile boat RussiaThe UN Black Sea Fleet on Wednesday evening as it sailed across Lake Donuzlav, a bay used for military ships in western occupied Crimea.
Crew members aboard the Russian warship reportedly resisted the attack and fired into the dunes; their fate was not yet known Thursday afternoon.
Read more about Putin's warships
The GUR Ministry of Defense continued: “As a result of a number of direct hits on the hull, the Russian ship suffered damage incompatible with further movement – the 'Ivanovets' rolled to the stern and sank.
“According to preliminary information, the search and rescue operation of the Russian occupiers on the Donuzlav was unsuccessful.”
Ukraine estimated the ship was worth about $70 million.
Russia has not officially confirmed the strike, but pro-Putin war Telegram channels have.
One wrote: 'We have to give the crew credit. They fought to the last.
“Even after three hits on the ship you can see the Navy drone being fired upon.”
Until nine drones are said to have carried out the attack from the sea at Odessa, resulting in what was only the last a series of Putin warships sunk by Ukraine.
The alleged attack came after Ukraine unveiled its latest underwater robotic dronea stealth Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) designed to goal The Russian Black Sea Fleet, Sunday.
The Project First Ukrainian Robotic Navy (FURY) drone is still in development, but will be able to carry mines, torpedoes and submarine-launched missiles.
It will be used in a range of missions, possibly including intelligence.
Ukraine has already achieved significant success since launching its Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs), including the vehicles reportedly used in last night's hit song “Ivanovets.”
Recent images showed the invisible kamikaze drone 'Sea Baby' spitting fire on enemy boatswhere the same kamikaze drone is also responsible for an attack on Putin's beloved £3m Crimean Bridge.
Photos from July last year showed a gaping hole left in the bridge as a result of the drone explosion.
The “Sea Baby” can carry up to 850kg of explosives and its body is reportedly made of material invisible to radar systems.
In another major scalp for Ukraine were two of Putin's most crucial spy planes worth £290 million shot last month.
One of the Russian The dictator's £260million spy planes disappeared and a bomber worth £30million was set on fire. Ukrainian Armed Forces she shot out of the sky over the Azov Sea.
They were shot out of the sky on one of Moscow's worst days for the air force since then The Russian invasion in 2022.
The IL-22M bomber, worth around £28 million, just managed to return to Anapa airport on fire after being hit – with a number of casualties.
But the £260 million A-50 spy plane disappeared shortly after going on patrol near Zaporizhia at 9.10pm on January 14.
Moscow also lost its 12,490-ton missile cruiser, the Slava-class Moskva, when it hit by a pair of cruise missiles from Neptune fired by Ukraine.
Ukraine is said to have harassed the 180-metre-long ship with a drone as a distraction before hitting the ship with two cruise missiles.
Putin has still not released an accurate toll for losses on the sunken Black Sea flagship cruiser Moskva.
Several large landing ships have also been sunk recently, including most of the Novocherkassk on December 26.
At least 33 sailors are feared dead.
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