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The Russian military entered the media battle. The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine is always publishing footage of its attacks with unmanned boats on the Crimean peninsula in an attempt to declare at least some victories. In response, the Russian Ministry of Defense and other Russian military sources shared the footage of destruction of Ukrainian unmanned boats in the northwestern waters of the Black Sea, revealing new details of Ukrainian attacks.
On May 6, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the destruction of five Ukrainian unmanned boats that targeted Crimea. LINK Soon after the incident. the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine shared video from the camera of one of the boats that managed to reach a Russian boat.
This MAGURA V5 reportedly managed to enter the Sevastopol bay. Some military experts noted that, judging by the footage, it could not find a decent target. The unmanned boat is seen rushing under Russian fire, presumably, damaging one of the small hydrographic boats moored at the pier. As a result, the Ukrainian military failed to inflict any significant damage to the Russian fleet and was forced to attack at least the small boat to show at least some victory in the media.
In response, the Russian Ministry of Defense showed the destruction of Ukrainian boats by the Ka-29 MA helicopters of the Russian Navy.
Another video was shared by Russian unofficial military sources:
The footage revealed that some of the boats were equipped with R-60/R-73 air-to-air missiles with thermal guidance heads. This missiles do not need sighting systems and locators – the target is captured by the missile itself. Thus, the Ukrainian military began using the boats as floating anti-aircraft systems.
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The footage shows that at first, the boat was immobilized, after which one of the bullets caused the detonation of the R-73 rocket located at the top. One of the naval drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to fire a missile at one of the Russian helicopters, which did not hit the combat vehicle.
No missiles helped the Ukrainian military to reach the goals of the operation. However, helicopters remain one of the most effective means of fighting unmanned boats used by the Ukrainian/NATO military. Teh reinforcement of new type of ‘anti-aircraft unmanned boats’ is a new threat to the Russian aviation, especially military helicopters engaged in hunting for Ukrainian boats.
