Ukraine’s military intelligence service (HUR) claims to have struck two of Vladimir Putin’s “Tuna” boats outside Crimea in the early hours of May 30, while additional reports indicate that up to ten explosions rocked the Russian-occupied territory.
Knewz.com has learned that as a result, the traffic over the Kerch bridge connecting the Crimean and Krasnodar Krai peninsulas was brought to a halt.
“Two boats were hit, probably of the Tuna-class,” an HUR source told The Kyiv Post.
According to Defense Express, these boats are distinctive 29 ft long, 8 ft wide vessels, and can carry up to ten people.
They are used by the state’s security and emergency services along with Putin’s oligarch cronies for fishing–hence their moniker “Putin boats”.
Another source confirmed to The Ukrainska Pravda that Ukrainian Magura V5 sea drones were used in the attack.
While this was happening (at around 2.30 AM local time), the traffic on the Kerch bridge was brought to a halt which coincided with reports of as many as ten explosions in Crimea at the time.
The Russian defense ministry has since weighed in on the assault saying:
“Over the past night, a number of attempts by the Kyiv regime to carry out terrorist attacks using American ATACMS operational-tactical missiles, aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles, and unmanned boats against targets on the territory of the Russian Federation were stopped.”
The Telegram announcement went on to assert that Putin’s air defenses destroyed eight missiles over the Sea of Azov and eight UAVs over the Black Sea near Crimea.
The update made no mention of Ukraine’s claims about the so-called “tuna boats” but instead alleged that Russian military fixtures in the Black Sea took out “two unmanned boats heading towards the Crimean Peninsula.”
Another statement was fielded by the Russian-installed transport minister in Crimea, Nikolai Lukashenko.
He took to social media and said:
“While repelling an enemy attack on the transport infrastructure of the city of Kerch, two ferries, a car, and a railway were damaged from the debris of downed missiles.”
“The glazing of the superstructures was damaged. There were no casualties among sailors or civilians,” he continued.
This development follows incursions by Ukrainian drone forces on May 28. Knewz.com covered the incident and reported:
“The assault took place in Krasnodar Krai during the late hours of Monday, May 28, triggering explosions in two nearby villages.”
The significance of this particular onslaught was that one of the UAVs evaded interception and flew 1118 miles to a high-value Russian radar installation near the city of Orsk.
Another reason the airborne assault caught the media’s attention was that the inbound Ukrainian drones came as close as four miles to the sprawling Gelendzhik Palace associated with Putin.
The post Ukrainian Drones Target 2 Russian ‘Tuna’ Boats As Multiple Overnight Explosions Rock Crimea appeared first on Knewz.
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Author: Dave Malyon
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