Crimea Video Shows Ukraine Stealth Attack on Russian Landing Ships

Two Russian landing ships were struck by Ukrainian sea drones in annexed Crimea overnight, Kyiv's military intelligence said on Friday, releasing a video of the stealth attack.

"As a result of a night operation on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea, [Ukrainian] soldiers struck small amphibious ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet," the intelligence agency said on its Telegram channel.

Tensions have risen on the Black Sea peninsula as Ukraine ramps up attacks as part of an offensive that President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes will lead to its liberation. The Ukrainian president has vowed to reverse Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.

The nearly one-minute long footage allegedly shows Ukrainian forces targeting and damaging vessels that were crewed, and loaded with armored vehicles. It shows what appears to be a drone approaching vessels, before smoke rises into the night sky.

Ukraine's intelligence identified the vessels as being of the Serna class. A small landing ship of the Serna class can accommodate up to 45 tons of cargo and 92 armed troops, according to the U.S.-funded Radio Liberty.

"Occupiers used these ships for air defense purposes in the Black Sea utilizing Tor-M2 anti-aircraft missile systems," Ukraine's Defense Ministry said on social media.

Newsweek couldn't independently verify the report, and has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment via email.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that Crimea was attacked by two drones overnight, without elaborating.

Russia has been dealt a number of blows in recent weeks as Ukraine ramps up moves to recapture the peninsula. Experts close to Ukraine's Defense Ministry previously told Newsweek that Kyiv is embarking on a strategy to "demilitarize" the Black Sea Fleet as part of steps toward eventually liberating Crimea.

Satellite images from last month showed Russia's Black Sea Fleet is fleeing from the port of Sevastopol in Crimea to Novorossiysk in Krasnodar Krai in southern Russia and the Russian naval port in Feodosia on the annexed peninsula, amid a string of targeted attacks.

Days earlier, on September 22, Kyiv launched a missile attack on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol, reportedly killing a number of leading officers.

Ukraine has also destroyed multiple Russian warships, with recent casualties including Russia's Minsk, a Ropucha-class landing ship, and the Rostov-on-Don, a Kilo-class attack submarine.

Retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, a former commanding general of United States Army Europe, told Newsweek last month that Ukraine is conducting a "multi-domain" offensive to liberate the peninsula, which involves striking the Kerch Strait Bridge linking Crimea to Russia.

"This is all part of making Crimea untenable, unusable for the Russian military, until the Ukrainians have enough combat power where they can actually liberate the peninsula," Hodges said.

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