The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has reported striking two Russian military support vessels and air defence systems in Kerch using drones.
“Carrying out the tasks set by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as part of the 40-day operation to exert pressure on the Russian Federation, members of the SBU’s Alfa unit carried out successful strikes on military support vessels located at the Zatoka shipyard in the temporarily occupied city of Kerch. Air defence systems belonging to Russian forces in the Kerch Strait area were also targeted,” the SBU press service stated.
Ukrainian drones struck the Project 15310 cable-laying vessels Volga and Vyatka, as well as the Petropavlovsk passenger and cargo ferry, which was 96 per cent complete. The strikes caused major fires aboard the vessels.
The Volga and Vyatka were being built for the Russian Ministry of Defence and are designed to deploy the Harmony hydroacoustic surveillance system for underwater military reconnaissance. They are also capable of laying contactless mines to target ships, underwater pipelines, cables and other critical infrastructure. Each of these vessels is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Furthermore, SBU drones struck weaponry and a radar station belonging to an S-400 air defence missile system covering the Kerch Strait area.
The SBU noted that its systematic efforts to target Russian military infrastructure in temporarily occupied Crimea are depriving the enemy of the ability to use the peninsula as a logistical and military hub, while the destruction of air defence systems is paving the way for further high-precision strikes. The neutralisation of ships and port infrastructure also undermines the occupiers’ ability to sustain their forces.