Ukraine says Crimea attack destroyed two Russian military boats

Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence service said on May 30 that its forces had used naval drones to destroy two Russian patrol boats off Moscow-annexed Crimea.

Ukraine's GUR military intelligence service said on May 30 that its forces had used naval drones to destroy two Russian patrol boats off Moscow-annexed Crimea.

The GUR agency wrote on Telegram that its Group 13 special forces unit using Ukrainian naval drones "successfully attacked the boats of the aggressor state of Russia in temporarily occupied Crimea".

It said that Russia used fighter planes and helicopters to try to destroy the drones in the Vuzka bay in northwestest Crimea, as well as firing on them using small arms and 30 mm cannons.

It posted video footage of a helicopter firing into the water and bright flashes of fire apparently coming from the coast, saying this did not prevent the Ukrainians from "successfully completing their combat mission".

"As a result of the strike, two Russian boats were destroyed," GUR said, adding that according to preliminary data, they were high-speed amphibious vessels of the KS-701 Tunets type.

The GUR video shows footage from a drone showing it honing in on two moored boats, as well as nighttime footage of a massive explosion sending a plume of smoke up into the air.

The KS-701 small motor boats, made in Russia, are used for coastal patrols.