Journalists from the British newspaper The Times visited the secret Ukrainian base where our country keeps its fleet of unmanned marine vehicles (drones) .

As noted in their publication, “there are so many explosives here that it is enough to destroy the entire Black Sea fleet of the Russian Federation.”

The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine told one of the oldest and respected publications on the planet that it has three types of surface drones.

One of them is  Magura V5 . Each drone is equipped with two cameras, infrared optics, a satellite receiver and a 300-horsepower engine that accelerates the device to 45 knots (just over 83 km/h). A 250-kilogram warhead is located in the bow.

At the same base, reporters were shown the next generation of drones, carrying much more explosives. They can allegedly drop mines into the path of unsuspecting enemy ships, returning to base intact.

Other Ukrainian formations, in particular the Ukrainian Navy and the Security Service of Ukraine, used another type of maritime drone – Sea Baby – to attack the Kerch Bridge, the frigate Admiral Makarov, the oil tanker Sig and the large landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak ” This drone already carries 450 kg of explosives.

At the same time, judging by the Times publication, Ukraine does not intend to stop there. Last August, the UK transferred six unmanned underwater vehicles to Kyiv for hunting mines – this technology could well be reproduced in attack drones capable of moving not on the surface, but in the water column.

Ukraine’s maritime successes were highlighted by Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron during his  trip to Odessa last month.

“It’s very important what the Ukrainian fleet has achieved – pushing back the Russians, opening up new sea routes,” he said. “I’m proud that Britain is playing its part.”

The commander of the unmanned GUR fleet, digital call sign 13, told The Times that he blew holes in Russia’s most advanced ships, sinking the last two targets on November 10 off Chernomorskoye, in Crimea.

The drones crept into the harbor at dawn, avoiding anti-submarine nets to find the right angle of attack, he said. The Russians noticed them and opened fire with machine guns on the low, narrow silhouettes. The drones, however, accelerated and avoided the bursts, hitting the Akula and Chamois-class landing ships.  

“They knew we were coming, but they couldn’t do anything about it. The joy was incredible. This was the goal of my life – to sink a Russian ship, and we sank two at once. As far as I know, no one has ever done this before. Now we have a new goal – to sink something big,” said the GUR officer.

“Russia’s superior naval forces, which once threatened to land troops in Odessa, can no longer enforce the blockade and are even forced to retreat to the Kremlin-controlled coast. Moscow’s helicopters and fast patrol boats had to be used to protect occupied ports, where the Black Sea Fleet had installed multiple layers of defense against drones. This allowed Ukraine to build an international trade route through the Bosphorus that skirts the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria, NATO allies, and break President Putin’s stifling control over the country’s economy,” British journalists state.

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