On February 14, 2024, Ukrainian forces conducted a successful unmanned surface vessel attack on russian Caesar Kunikov Ropucha-class landing craft, which almost certainly resulted in the sinking of the vessel. Three of ten Ropucha-class vessels have now been destroyed by Ukrainian strikes, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
The vessel is heavily relied on to provide logistical support to the Black Sea Fleet (BSF) and the russian war in Ukraine. The loss of the vessel will almost certainly further constrain the limited russian resources available in the Black Sea and leave the Black Sea Fleet logistical chain vulnerable to additional attacks. It also further reduces the redundancy available to support logistical movements between mainland russia to the Crimean Peninsula when the Kerch bridge is closed.
Read more: How Magura V5 Drones Destroyed Caesar Kunikov: Detailed Video Analysis and Mayhem on the russian Landing Ship
Ukraine’s ingenuity has highly likely deterred russia from operating freely in the western Black Sea and enabled Ukraine to seize the maritime momentum from russia.
Read more: Ukrainian Forces Sink russian Caesar Kunikov Landing Ship (Video)
