Five boats and two ferries damaged in night attack on Crimea

30 May, 2024 Russian boats in the sights of a Magura V5 naval drone, May 2014. Photo credits: Defence Intelligence of Ukraine The Ukrainian military dealt a serious blow to Russia's maritime logistics capabilities in occupied Crimea.

Astra reported on this, citing its own sources. A combined attack by the Ukrainian Defense Forces on Russian facilities in Crimea on the night of May 30 resulted in the destruction of a number of maritime logistics vessels and boats. In particular, missile strikes on the Kerch ferry crossing damaged the Project CNF06 Avangard and Conro Trader vessels.

According to the newspaper's sources, the Avangard vessel ran aground due to significant damage, which may indicate that the sides of the vessel were punctured. Four crew members were reportedly injured.

The Conroe Trader vessel is likely to have sustained less critical damage, with one crew member injured. Both vessels are railroad ferries and were the only ones of this type to serve the Kerch ferry crossing. Five other ferries connect the occupied peninsula with the Russian mainland: two small automobile ferries, Kerch-2 and Yeysk, and three large automobile ferries, Lavrentiy, Panagia, and Maria.

The Avangard ferry transports fuel tanks.

The Ukrainian military also managed to damage 4 KC-701 Tunets boats, two of which were completely destroyed by naval drones.

The two boats were destroyed by the Group 13 unit of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. The intelligence officers used Magura V5 drones to break through the defense of Vuzka Bay and hit the high-speed vessels at the berth. A video of the defense breakthrough, maneuvering away from enemy aircraft, and the moment the planes were hit by naval drones was posted online.

It is reported that the Mechta pilot boat was also damaged and sank as a result of the missile strike. The crew members managed to leave the vessel and were not injured. Mechta is a steel boat of Project 1459 that was built in 1985.

In fact, it is an auxiliary vessel that delivers pilots on board ships entering ports, bays, and straits.

Russian Mechta pilot boat

As previously reported, at the beginning of the month, the operators of the Group 13 unit of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine destroyed a Russian speedboat in the Vuzka Bay in the temporarily occupied Crimea.