Russia claims intelligence ship targeted by drone attack in Black Sea

By Baird Maritime - May 25, 2023.

MARITIME SECURITY WEEK

Screenshot of a video purportedly showing an unmanned boat on an intercept course for the Russian Navy intelligence gathering vessel Ivan Khurs in the Black Sea off Turkey, May 24, 2023. Three such boats were launched against Ivan Khurs but were successfully destroyed by the vessel's defensive armament. (Photo: Russian Ministry of Defence)

The Russian government, through the Ministry of Defence, has reported that one of its vessels came under attack from unmanned speedboats in the Black Sea earlier this week.

Speaking via state television, the defence ministry said the Russian Navy signals intelligence gathering vessel Ivan Khurs was in international waters off Turkey when its crew detected three incoming drones on Wednesday, May 24.

Video footage released by the defence ministry showed the three craft approaching the Russian vessel as the latter fired its defensive armament and performed evasive manoeuvres.

The ministry said all three drones were eventually destroyed. Also, the video footage shows what Russian defence officials said is one of the drones exploding while it was still some distance from Ivan Khurs, indicating that it suffered a direct hit.

The Russian defence ministry said that Ukraine was responsible for the unsuccessful attack on Ivan Khurs as the vessel was protecting subsea infrastructure off Turkey. However, neither Kyiv nor Ankara has issued any statement validating the claims.

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