A Ukrainian missile attack has destroyed a Russian minesweeper in occupied Crimea, Ukraine’s military has said.
The Ukrainian Navy did not give any more details on how the Kovrovets, a Project 266-M sea minesweeper, was destroyed, although the Russian ministry of defence said that Ukraine had used US ATACMS missiles in the attack.
“Another bad day for the Russian Black Sea Fleet,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence said on X alongside a photo of the Kovrovets inside a targeting sight.
The incident adds to the pressure on the Kremlin’s Black Sea Fleet, which has been ordered to do more to protect its ships.
The US quietly gave Ukraine ATACMS missiles, a mobile surface-to-surface missile system with a range of up to 190 miles, in April after months of lobbying by Kyiv. They can be fired by the HIMARS artillery systems that have been used in Ukraine for two years and have been credited with destroying Russian command bases and weapons depots deep behind the frontlines.
Ukraine first fired ATACMS missiles at Russian forces three weeks ago and has since struck radar systems, troop centres and airfields in occupied Donbas and Crimea. The missiles can also be fitted with cluster bomb warheads, which give Ukrainian commanders extra flexibility on how to use them.
Russia’s ministry of defence denied that its minesweeper had been destroyed in the attack and said that its air defence systems had shot down all of Ukraine’s missiles.
“By air defence duty systems, nine ATACMS operational-tactical missiles and one drone were destroyed over the territory of the Republic of Crimea,” it said.
The poor performance of the Black Sea Fleet since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022 has infuriated Vladimir Putin. It failed to hold the strategically important Snake Island, its flagship has been sunk and several warships and submarines have been destroyed at harbour in occupied Crimea. Earlier this year, Putin sacked the commander of the Black Sea Fleet and ordered its officers to improve training for defending against missile and drone attacks.
The Kovrovets was built in 1974 and was part of a Russian project to update Soviet-era warships.