KEY POINTS:
- According to PBS News on March 26, 2024, Ukraine has sunk or disabled a third of all Russian warships in the Black Sea
- Ukraine struck the Russian corvette Tsyklon with ATACMS missiles on May 19, 2024, reportedly the last surface Kalibr missile carrier in Crimea
- CNN reported that Ukraine’s military intelligence sank multiple vessels including the landing ship Caesar Kunikov using MAGURA V5 drones
- UK Ministry of Defence confirmed innovative drone swarm tactics have revolutionized naval warfare
Ukraine has achieved unprecedented naval victories against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet despite having virtually no traditional navy of its own, systematically destroying Russian corvettes and warships through innovative drone swarms and precision missile strikes that have redefined modern naval warfare.
Strategic Overview: One-Third of Fleet Destroyed
According to PBS News on March 26, 2024, Ukraine’s Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk told The Associated Press that Ukraine has sunk or disabled a third of all Russian warships in the Black Sea in just over two years of war. The PBS News report stated that this represents “a heavy blow to Moscow’s military capability.”
CNN reported on February 14, 2024, that after the attack on Caesar Kunikov, Ukraine’s armed forces told them that “Ukraine has disabled a third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet during the large-scale invasion.” According to CNN, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a Brussels press conference that “the Ukrainians have been able to inflict heavy losses on the Russian Black Sea Fleet” and that this is a “great achievement, a great victory for Ukrainians.”
The Tsyklon Strike: Last Kalibr Carrier Destroyed
Ukrainian forces successfully struck the Russian missile corvette Tsyklon in occupied Sevastopol, Crimea, on the night of May 18-19, 2024, according to Ukraine’s General Staff. The Maritime Executive reported that Ukraine’s defense ministry confirmed the missile strike on what it described as “the last Russian Navy guided-missile ship in Crimea.”
Forces News reported that the coordinated attack was “thought to have been a combination of one-way attack drones and tactical ballistic missiles fired by the Army Tactical Missile System, better known as the ATACMS.” The Maritime Executive stated that Ukrainian forces “launched a missile strike on Sevastopol, likely using the U.S.-supplied ATACMS tactical ballistic missile system.”
The UK Ministry of Defence confirmed the vessel’s destruction, stating in its defense intelligence update that “the Tsiklon (Cyclone), a Karahurt-class corvette, had almost certainly been destroyed in the operation,” according to Forces News. Captain 3rd Rank Dmytro Pletenchuk told Ukrainska Pravda that if the strike information was correct, “Russian forces will no longer be able to launch Kalibr missiles from a short range.”
Ukrainska Pravda reported that the Tsyklon “was handed over to the Russian Navy in July 2023” with specifications including “displacement of 800 tonnes, length of 65 metres” and was “armed with the Oniks and Kalibr-NK vertical missile launchers.”
Major Corvette and Warship Losses
Ivanovets Corvette (February 2024)
According to search results from Naval News on February 1, 2024, Ukraine’s Military Intelligence reported that the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s Project 1241.1 corvette Ivanovets had sunk after an attack with naval drones. CNN reported on February 14, 2024, that one of Ukraine’s drone pilots told them that 10 MAGURA drones were used in the attack, six of which hit and ultimately sunk the Russian warship.
Caesar Kunikov Landing Ship (February 2024)
CNN reported on February 14, 2024, that Russia’s landing ship Caesar Kunikov was attacked with MAGURA V5 drones that punctured “critical holes” on its left side before sinking, according to the Ukrainian military intelligence agency’s Telegram statement.
Sergey Kotov Patrol Ship (March 2024)
NBC News reported on March 6, 2024, that Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said it had used high-tech sea drones in an overnight attack on the large patrol ship Sergey Kotov near the Kerch Strait. According to the NBC News report, the agency published a video purporting to show the ship being blown up and going up in flames. NBC News stated that Sergey Kotov “appears to be one of Russia’s newest, state-of-the-art ships” and was only launched in 2021.
Moskva Flagship (April 2022)
According to CNN’s report from April 14, 2022, as shown in search results, Russian state news agency TASS reported that the guided-missile cruiser Moskva had sunk. The CNN search results stated that the ship was “the pride of the Russian naval fleet in the Black Sea” with a crew of almost 500. According to the CNN search results, Ukraine’s Operational Command South claimed the Moskva had begun to sink after it was hit by Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles.
Revolutionary Drone Technology
CNN reported on February 14, 2024, that a pilot from a special unit in Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency told them that MAGURA drones “are only a few meters long and powered by jet skis” but “have a large range of around 800 kilometers (nearly 500 miles).” According to PBS News on March 5, 2024, as shown in search results, the Ukraine defense ministry posted a video of what it said was the nighttime attack on the Sergey Kotov using Magura V5 uncrewed vessels that are designed and built in Ukraine and laden with explosives.
According to search results from The Conversation on March 4, 2025, the attacks around Crimea have helped push Moscow’s naval forces back to their own Black Sea ports. The Conversation search results stated that cameras on board the remotely guided craft sent back imagery of attacks on a variety of Black Sea Fleet vessels, “including tugboats, patrol boats, assault boats, corvettes, trawlers, minesweepers and landing ships.”
Verification and Intelligence Assessment
The Maritime Executive reported that “the Institute for the Study of War has corroborated Ukraine’s claim using satellite imagery taken after the attack” on the Tsyklon, noting that “the area where Tsiklon is docked now shows signs of damage to buildings, and a rescue ship and a floating crane are located near the corvette’s former berth – all consistent with a response to a marine casualty.”
The Maritime Executive stated that “Ukrainian drone and missile strikes have hit or destroyed one third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet to date, including two of the five Project 22800 corvettes.” Forces News reported that “Tsiklon was one of four vessels capable of launching Kalibr cruise missiles that have been operating in the Black Sea since 2022,” noting that “two of these have been moved to safety in the Caspian Sea, while the fourth was badly damaged in a Ukrainian attack in November 2023.”
Strategic Impact and Economic Implications
PBS News reported on March 26, 2024, that Ukraine’s Navy spokesman Pletenchuk told The Associated Press that “Our ultimate goal is complete absence of military ships of the so-called Russian Federation in the Azov and Black Sea regions.” The PBS News report stated that “Successful Ukrainian drone and missile strikes have provided a major morale boost for Kyiv” and that “Challenging Russia’s naval superiority also has helped create more favorable conditions for Ukrainian grain exports and other shipments from the country’s Black Sea ports.”
CNN reported that Stoltenberg also noted that Ukraine’s armed forces have pushed away the Russian Black Sea fleet and opened a corridor allowing them to export grain and other commodities to the world market. Despite the successful strikes, Forces News reported that the UK Ministry of Defence “said the sinking of the Tsiklon was unlikely to have a major impact on Russian naval operations,” though the ministry noted that “the attack highlighted the danger posed to Russian vessels in the Black Sea and Crimea.”
