Ukraine destroys Russian Navy’s Raptor-class patrol boats

The Ukrainian Navy has reportedly destroyed two Russian Navy’s Raptor-class patrol boats in the Black Sea, according to a video published by officials on 8 May.

The video footage shows the vessels were hit by the Ukrainian unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) Bayraktar TB2. The high-speed patrol vessels of Project 03160 are commonly used for the transportation of group of at least 20 persons providing the highest possible embarkation and debarkation and  intercept and arrest of small targets and rescue of people in areas of duty.

The ships, which were built by Russian shipbuilding company Pella Shipyards, measure 17 meters in length and are able to achieve a speed of up to 50 knots.

The boats are armed with a 14.5-millimeter gun with a remotely controlled with a gyro-stabilized electro-optical module (GOEM). They also have two 7.62 milimeter 6P41 “Pecheneg” machine guns.

Earlier on, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence has revealed that the Armed Forces have destroyed another Russian Navy vessel, a Serna-class landing craft, near the Snake Island.

The Serna-class landing craft of the Project 11770 was also hit by the Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2. The drone reportedly destroyed two TOR air defence systems.

The ministry released a video showing the ship sinking on its Twitter account on 7 May.

“The traditional parade of the Russian Black Sea fleet on May 9 this year will be held near Snake Island — at the bottom of the sea,” the Defense Ministry stated.