Наталя Хандусенко War 28 August 2025, 17:26

The Russians hit a Ukrainian Navy ship. The enemy claims that they used an unmanned boat, the threat of which was previously warned by Ukrainian military expert "Flash"

The Russians hit the Ukrainian Navy ship "Simferopol": one crew member was killed, several were injured, and a search is underway for several sailors. The aggressor claims that the ship was hit by an unmanned boat, the threat of which was warned about in early August by Ukrainian military and communications and UAV expert Serhiy "Flash" Beskrestnov.

What happened?

Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk confirmed the destruction of a Ukrainian ship in a comment to Ukrinform. But he did not say that it was the Simferopol.

"Regarding the information regarding the damage to one of the ships of the Ukrainian Navy: we confirm the fact of the ship being hit, the consequences of the attack are currently being eliminated. The majority of the crew is safe. The search for several military sailors continues. Unfortunately, one crew member was killed, several were injured," Pletenchuk said.

Russian media outlets claim that the Ukrainian Navy reconnaissance ship "Simferopol" was hit.

Reconnaissance ship "Simferopol"

Simferopol is a medium reconnaissance ship built at Kuznya na Rybalskoye PJSC. It was launched on April 23, 2019, and entered the fleet in 2021.

The length of the Simferopol is 55 meters, and the width is 10 meters. With a displacement of about 1,200 tons, it is capable of reaching speeds of up to 12 knots (22 km/h), writes "Military".

Its purpose is to conduct radio, radio-technical, radar and opto-electronic reconnaissance. It is equipped with the Melchior radio-technical reconnaissance station of the State Research Institute "Kvant-Radiolocation".

In July 2023, the ship was armed with a 30 mm AK-306 artillery mount.

What probably hit the ship?

Photo of the new attack boat of the Russian Federation

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that the attack was carried out using a high-speed unmanned boat at the mouth of the Danube River.

After the ship was hit, military and communications and UAV expert Sergey "Flash" Beskrestnov recalled his warning about the enemy's use of new unmanned attack boats.

In its August 2nd article, The Flash reported that the enemy's Rubicon Unmanned Systems Center had adopted unmanned attack boats.

"With this post, I draw attention to the emergence of a new threat. Anyone who knows what Rubicon is understands that everything will be serious. So that we don't sigh and sigh, we need to develop systems for searching for attack boats and destroying them. FPV successfully cope with these tasks, the main thing is the organization.

For reference

Before the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Ukrainian Navy had 1 frigate, 5 corvettes, 3 minesweepers, 2 landing ships, 1 submarine, 49 auxiliary ships, and 35 aircraft. The ship Simferopol falls into the category of "Auxiliary vessels."

As of 2025, with the help of foreign partners, Ukraine managed to restore its Navy, which numbered 90 ships and boats.

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