Ukrainian forces intercepted communications by the Ka-29 crew about the evacuation of Russian sailors in the Black Sea.

This was reported by Babel with reference to a source in the Ukrainian Defence Forces. The online media publishes audio transcripts of the conversation.

On the morning of August 1, 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported an “unsuccessful” attack by three naval drones of the Black Sea Fleet Project 22160 patrol ships “Sergey Kotov” and “Vasily Bykov.”

The attack occurred 340 km from Sevastopol, and all the drones were allegedly destroyed.

As noted, the intercepted conversation involved crews of Ka-29 helicopters, which are participating in the evacuation of Russian sailors.

According to information spread by Russian social media users, the Sparta-IV container ship, which is capable of carrying weapons from Syria, was among the attacked ships.

Babel’s source said that now Russian sailors on one of these ships were asking for the evacuation of the victims.

According to the publication, Ка-29 helicopters are involved in the evacuation, and are ordered to deliver the bodies of the dead and wounded to the territory of the Admiral Nakhimov Higher Naval School at Sevastopol.

In the intercepted conversation between the crews of helicopters and the coastal aviation services of Russia, the current coordinates of the location of the ships are transmitted, and the number of victims is specified.

During the conversation, the crew talked about at least one dead and five wounded who needed urgent evacuation.

They also said a sanitary car and a border guard for customs clearance were needed to be present during the evacuation. It’s unclear exactly what should be cleared.

It’s also unknown which ship was hit by the attack. Babel draws attention to the fact that Russia calls the Sparta-IV container ship civilian, but the source says that large-caliber weapons are installed on the ship, and there are armed teams and military personnel on board.

Russian sailors in Black Sea issue evacuation call