Sea Drone Attack on Russian Fleet Puts Focus on Expanded Ukrainian Arms

Military experts say that the apparent use of remote-controlled boats to attack Russian ships over the weekend is likely to demonstrate a new capability for Ukrainian forces. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. The small boat speeds toward a much larger ship in the distance, cutting through choppy waves and dodging gunfire, presumably from a helicopter shown hovering above. A now-viral video of its journey ends inconclusively, without showing its fate or what happened to what is suspected to be its intended target: Russia’s strategically important Black Sea Fleet. The original source of the video and the origin of the vessel it was taken from remain unconfirmed. But military experts say they believe it to be footage from a remote-controlled attack on the Russian naval fleet off the Crimean port city of Sevastopol over the weekend — an attack that Russia said was carried by seven such boats accompanied by air drones, and has accused Ukraine of carrying out with British assistance. Russia said that it had recovered the wreckage of sea drones used to target its fleet in Saturday’s assault and that the attack was the reason it was suspending a critical deal that had allowed for the export of grain from Ukrainian ports to help alleviate a global food crisis. British officials have denied involvement, while Ukrainian, American and other Western officials have mostly refused to comment about the video or the attack. But the attack comes a few months after the United States, among other NATO allies, said it was supplying Ukraine with remote-controlled boats, even while, unusually, refusing to give details about that military aid. In Washington, a Pentagon official who briefed journalists on Monday on condition he not be named said the United States had concluded that there were explosions near Russian naval vessels off the coast of Sevastopol, but declined further comment. P. W. Singer, a specialist on 21st century warfare at the New America think-tank in Washington, said it was clear from videos on social media and other public reporting that the attacks on the Russian fleet “definitely” involved multiple remote-controlled boats and aerial drones in a complex assault that “points to higher skill levels, higher competence” by Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian officials have not commented publicly on Saturday’s attack, in line with a policy of official ambiguity about such strikes. But if the attack is confirmed, it would be a new example of Ukrainian forces hitting sensitive Russian sites from afar and expanding its battlefield capabilities after months of accelerated military aid from Western nations. Drone boats are not a new weapon. Some were designed more than 100 years ago, including by the Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla, and used by the Germans as far back as World War I.


All data is taken from the source: http://nytimes.com
Article Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/31/us/politics/russia-ukraine-ships-drones.html


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