Two Russian warships appeared in Sevastopol under tow but without clear signs of damage, while others remain unaccounted for.
Claims of new successful drone attacks on Russian warships of the Black Sea Fleet remain unconfirmed as of Saturday, though two ships in question were seen under tow in Sevastopol.
Observers quickly noticed the appearance of Russian Project 1239 Bora-class missile corvette Samum under tow in Sevastopol after a Ukrainian “Sea Baby” uncrewed surface vessel attack Thursday outside Sevastopol. A picture appears to show the hovercraft’s stern sitting low in the water with tow boats connected to bow and stern lines, though obvious evidence of damage remains unseen.
Satellite imagery also captured the Black Sea Fleet flagship Admiral Makarov, a Project 11356R Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate, under tow in Sevastopol harbor on Saturday. The image shows what appears to be smoke from the ship’s funnel and again lacks clear evidence of damage from an attack.
Exactly where the September 14 attack took place remains unclear, though the Bykov in particular operated far from occupied Crimea near the Romanian coast when it boarded the Palau-flagged freighter Sukru Okan in August.
A Ukrainian naval source told The War Zone on Saturday that the Bykov, previously claimed damaged off Odesa early in the war, was struck below the waterline and flooding. The source also said the attack destroyed the Tor SAM system parked on the ship’s flight deck for additional point defense. The Kotov was also reportedly holed above the waterline according to the source. We could not independently confirm these claims at this time.
Between the fog of war and numerous false alarms regarding attacks on ships in the Black Sea, its best to take all claims with a grain of salt until we see definitive proof otherwise. Only when the ships return to Sevastopol, Novorossiysk, or elsewhere, or end up lost at sea, will the results of the attacks become more clear.
Before we head into the latest from Ukraine, The War Zone readers can catch up on our previous rolling coverage here.
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The intelligence update noted that since April 2023, Russia has used fewer ALCMs while internally highlighting increased missile production. There is thus “a realistic possibility Russia will again focus these weapons against Ukrainian infrastructure targets over the winter.”
Like the August raid on Olenivka and Mayak, the SOF team reportedly approached Sevastopol by boat and “used underwater delivery means to reach mainland.” The team identified targets and corrected fire “with the help of special technical assets,” before confirming direct hits on the targets and conducting a successful exfiltration.
Since the first small drone struck the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters in August 2022, Russia has taken great steps to protect its considerable military infrastructure in Sevastopol. An SOF team infililtraing Sevastopol is impressive, but exactly how much of the story is true or not is unknown. Correcting fire for cruise missile and long-range drone attacks is a bit of a puzzling claim, but there is still so much we don’t know about the operation and what exact weapons were used and how.
There’s now footage of Ukrainian forces taking the bombed-out hamlet of Andriivka. Soldiers with the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade entered the ruined streets to find what Russians remained surrendering. Seeing the surrender, Russian artillery reportedly opened up on their positions.
Also south of Bakhmut, Ukrainian forces have taken the similarly ruined town of Klishchiivka just to the north of Andriivka. New video shows Ukrainian troops walking among the cratered and splintered streets, shelling having reduced the town to something of a violent tornado’s damage path.
Also on the topic of U.S. aid, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante revealed in remarks Friday that in addition to regular supplies of equipment and ammunition, the U.S. gave Kyiv “industrial-sized 3D printers.” Each printer the size of a truck, the machines were “a game changer” in shortening the turnaround time for hard-to-source parts and equipment.
On the Russian side, it appears Moscow has pressed a modernized Ukrainian variant of the legacy BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle into service with its units. Some of the BMP-1U “Shkval” variants were seen in a video released through the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Ukraine produced a limited number of BMP-1Us in the early 2000s, the old 73mm turret replaced with a larger turret equipped with a 30mm autocannon, 9M113 Konkurs anti-tank missile launchers, and a 30mm AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher. On account of a bigger weapons suite, the Shkval can carry only six infantry instead of the standard eight. The type has seen considerable service during the war in Ukraine.
Russia also captured a number of BMP-1Us during its 2008 war with Georgia. The Chadihan National Army operates 42 BMP-1Us, some of them appearing during an Independence Day parade in the capital of N’Djamena on August 11, 2023.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), all members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have asked Secretary of Defense Gen. Lloyd Austin for information on the reports that emerged from reporting in author Walter Isaacson’s coming biography of Musk.
There’s also a curious weapon configuration seen in a video from Ukrainian trenches making the rounds. A Ukrainian soldier equipped with an AR15/M16 pattern rifle missing a few pieces, namely the handguard protecting the user from the hot barrel and gas tube.
That barrel and gas tube will get extremely hot without much firing.
That’s all for now. We’ll update this story when there’s more to report on Ukraine.
