Ukraine on Monday claimed it has sunk a pair of Russian patrol boats, using TB2 drones supplied to them by Turkey.
The action took place early Monday off the coast of Snake Island, which had been the scene of a radio exchange that went viral early in the conflict between Ukrainian fighters and a Russian warship, the Moskva, which itself sank in mid-April following a Ukrainian missile attack.
Ukrainian officials said the patrol boats, known as Raptors, were hit at daybreak on Monday. Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense released video Monday morning that appeared to show the attack in progress.
“Bayraktar is working,” Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, said using the local name for the Turkish drone system that has proven highly effective in the nine-week war.
The patrol boats were reportedly being used to evacuate Russian troops from Snake Island when they were attacked by the drones. They can also be deployed in a wide range of assignments, including patrolling and search-and-rescue missions, according to the website navaltechnology.com.
The boats can transport up to 20 people and operate up to about 100 miles from the home base, according to reports.