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​Ukrainian Naval Drone Successfully Attacked russian Base of the 68th Coastal Defense Ship Brigade in Sevastopol

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Illustrative photo: russian ships stationed at the Striletska Bay in Sevastopol, occupied Crimean Peninsula / Open source photo
Illustrative photo: russian ships stationed at the Striletska Bay in Sevastopol, occupied Crimean Peninsula / Open source photo

Despite footage from the occupied Crimea showing a powerful explosion that broke the windows in the nearby houses, russians still claim the kamikaze drone just "exploded by itself"

Shortly another successful episode of Ukrainians using naval drones took place overnight April 23, first footage from the area of explosion appeared on social media, taken by a local resident.

Evidently, one of the drones managed to break through to the docks where the russian ships were stationed and exploded. As noted, the events took place in Sevastopol.

Read more: ​Explosions Rang Out in Occupied Sevastopol, an Attack by Ukraine’s Surface Drones Reported (Video)

OSINT communities already managed to find out the exact location: Striletska Bukhta, or Striletska Bay which is the base of permanent deployment of the 68th Coastal Defense Ship Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet of the russian federation.

Geolocated by Neonhandrail, map images are illustrative
The location attacked by allegedly Ukrainian naval drones. Geolocated by Neonhandrail, map images are illustrative

On a blurry image by Sentinel satellite dated April 11 (unfortunately, all the pictures taken afterward only show thick clouds) we can see that the russian warships are all in place near the quay wall.

The most relevant image of the Striletska Bay from Sentinel satellite, taken on April 11
The most relevant image of the Striletska Bay from Sentinel satellite, taken on April 11

There is also a boom barrier seen stretching across the bay: from the russian military's perspective, it should have kept the ships safe from precisely this type of boat drone attack.

There is no credible information in regard to the damage that may or may not have been inflicted to the ships stationed there. The russians claim it all happened "outside the roadstead" which is clearly not what we see in the video and they also say "no assets were damaged."

Yet the explosion was of enough power to break the windows in a building located as far as 900 m from the epicenter.

A photo from open media shows the aftermath of the explosion almost a kilometer away. Map image is illustrative
A photo from open media shows the aftermath of the explosion almost a kilometer away. The map image is illustrative

Although some "critical blow" to the russian Black Sea Fleet should not be expected from this strike either. Most likely, they only got scratched so much as to need to stay in the bay for a while to get repairs. As for the possible targets, the 68th Ship Brigade has Project 1124M Albatros-M anti-submarine corvettes and various trawlers.

Project 1124M Albatros-M corvette
Project 1124M Albatros-M corvette / Open source illustrative photo

At the same time, more important warships like Kalibr missile carriers and submarines are hidden much deeper inside the Sevastopol and Pivdenna bays, well covered with several layers of booms.

Read more: ​Why Kamikaze Drones Still Haven't Destroyed russian Fleet and What is the Real Effect of this Weapon in General