Ukraine's military forces said they attacked two Russian patrol ships operating in the Black Sea and destroyed the sophisticated surface-to-air missile defense system S-400 “Triumf” in Russian-occupied Crimea. Some military analysts have described the loss of such equipment as "tactical failures" on Russia's part.
Yesterday's attacks followed a day in which Kiev said it had carried out a missile attack that severely damaged a Russian submarine and a Navy landing ship that were being repaired at a shipyard in the port of Sevastopol, Crimea , home of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
In a post published Thursday on the messaging app Telegram, the Ukrainian military said it had struck two Russian patrol boats in a southwestern Black Sea region.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the attack on the Sergei Kotov vessel in a morning statement, but said the assault, involving five marine drones, was repelled. He made no mention of damage.
The Ukrainian military also said it hit a Russian air defense system in a long-range attack in the early hours of Thursday near the town of Yevpatoriya in western Crimea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made particular reference to the attack in Crimea in his traditional nightly message tonight.
"I thank you for today's triumph – the destruction of the air defense system of the occupiers on the territory of our Crimea. It is a very significant result. Well done!".
"The entire personnel of the Security Service of Ukraine and our Navy should be especially commended for this.”
A Ukrainian intelligence source said that air combat drones knocked out the Russian air defense system by attacking its radar and antenna, after which two Neptune cruise missiles were launched, destroying the defense system's launchers. .
Footage circulating on social media showed powerful explosions and a blanket of smoke rising into the night sky, then lit up by a blaze.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 11 drones overnight over the peninsula, without mentioning the damage.
Washington-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Thursday that news of the destruction of the Crimean-based Russian S-400 “Triumf” surface-to-air missile system in a “special operation ” indicates serious Russian defense problems on the occupied peninsula.
“The attack suggests that Russian forces were unprepared to intercept missiles with the system or were unable to do so”, the ISW said.
According to ISW, Ukrainian forces had struck a Russian S-400 air defense system near Olenivka, Crimea, also in late August.
The second Ukrainian attack on a major Russian air defense system in recent weeks indicates that these tactical failures may reflect a broader systemic problem with Russian air defenses in occupied Crimea,” the think tank said.
While Kiev's counteroffensive in the south and east has been slowed by Russian minefields and defensive lines, Ukrainian forces have stepped up attacks in the Black Sea region, where Russia is imposing a blockade on Ukraine's seaborne exports .
Ukraine has increasingly relied on maritime drones to attack Russian targets, striking the Olenegorsky Gornyak landing ship near Russia's Novorossiysk naval base and a Russian tanker early last month.
Ukraine continues to carry out its exhausting counteroffensive, with fierce fighting in many parts of the front, but without significant progress in the campaign that has now lasted for three months.
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