Ukraine’s Sea Drones Have Inflicted $500M in Damage on Russian Fleet: Kyiv

Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet have cost Moscow hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, according to Kyiv’s estimates.

The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine (HUR) said Friday that Kyiv’s Magura V5 maritime drones have resulted in $500 million worth of damage to Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s naval fleet, a prime target for Ukraine as it works to push Russia out of its territory.

HUR spokesman Andriy Yusov added while speaking at a telethon Friday that the Magura V5 drone was the “main and best weapon available to Ukraine” to target the Black Sea Fleet, according to a report by the Kyiv Post. The maritime drones have been used on several occasions to attack Putin’s navy, and recent footage posted by Russian state-owned news sources suggest that Ukraine has adapted its Magura V5 to carry air-to-air Soviet missiles.

Yusov said on Friday that “every aspect” of the Magura drones were being improved, added the Post, including the warhead.

Newsweek could not independently verify HUR’s damage estimate and reached out to Russia’s Ministry of Defense for further comment via email on Friday night.

HUR’s comments arrived a few days after Kyiv released videos of its forces taking down high-speed Russian landing boats that were docked in the Uzka Bay in Crimea. Ukraine said it conducted the attack using its Magura drones.

The naval drones were also used to take down Putin’s newest patrol ship, the Sergey Kotov, in a March attack. According to the Unian news agency, the ship cost around $65 million and is built to carry a crew of 80.

Ukraine in recent months has ramped up its attacks on Russian military targets in the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the over two-year war with Moscow will not end until all territory—including Crimea—is returned to Kyiv’s control.

Ukraine launched a bombardment of missiles on Crimea late last month, causing traffic to be halted on the Kerch Strait Bridge, the main roadway connecting Crimea with the Russian mainland. The bridge is a key route for Moscow’s forces to transport supplies. It has been struck by Ukraine twice since the war began, in October 2022 and again in July 2023.

Satellite imagery reviewed by the U.K. Defense Ministry last month showed that Russia had “highly likely” upgraded its Black Sea Fleet in light of Ukraine’s attacks. The investments included building up Moscow’s logistics, maintenance and support for weapons systems at the country’s Novorossiysk facility, which is just east of Crimea.