Ukraine stated that its military used unmanned boats equipped with modified American-made missiles to shoot down two Russian fighter jets. Ukrainian military officials mentioned that this is the first time such an attack method has been used in the history of warfare.
According to the Ukrainian military intelligence agency HUR, the “Magura-7” unmanned boat deployed by Ukrainian forces launched missiles at two Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets flying near the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.
On May 2, the Ukrainian navy’s unmanned boat successfully shot down a Su-30 fighter jet for the first time, hundreds of miles away from the Ukrainian-controlled coast in the eastern Black Sea, as reported by the Navy News on May 3. On May 4, the media reported that the second Su-30 fighter jet was also shot down by Ukrainian forces, using a larger new model called Magura V7 unmanned boat. This marked the public debut of the V7 model.
Ukrainian President Zelensky described the attack as “remarkable” in his video speech on Saturday, stating that it showcased Ukraine’s strength. Ukraine announced that this incident marked the first time a navy unmanned boat had shot down a fighter jet.
A video released by HUR on Saturday showed a distant object burning above the sea surface through a shaky camera lens. The camera then rotated to reveal the object crashing into the tumultuous sea. Kirylo Budanov, head of HUR, informed the news website “War Zone” that the crew of one Russian aircraft was rescued from the cold sea by a commercial ship, while there were no survivors from the crew of the other aircraft.
The missile that hit the Russian aircraft last Friday was identified as the American-made infrared AIM-9 Sidewinder missile, provided to Ukraine by the United States and Canada. Ukraine previously reported that on December 31 last year, two Russian helicopters were shot down by missiles launched from unmanned aerial vehicles.
The Russian military has not commented on the recent attacks, and Epoch Times could not independently verify the information.
The Black Sea has become a critical battleground between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine has used small explosive naval drones to destroy or damage more than ten Russian ships, forcing Russia to withdraw a significant portion of its Black Sea fleet from its Crimean homeport. The naval drones have also disrupted a bridge connecting Russia to the occupied Crimea, which Russia used to supply its troops operating in Ukraine.
On Saturday, Zelensky also mentioned that Russia launched 950 air raid bombs at Ukraine last week, including the nightly bombings of the “Shahed” explosive drones into Ukrainian city airspace.
On Sunday, Ukraine reported that Russian drones attacked the capital city of Kyiv at night, injuring at least 11 people, including two children. Zelensky called for a genuine ceasefire lasting at least one month between the two sides.
Early Monday, the Moscow mayor announced that Russian air defense forces had destroyed four Ukrainian drones heading towards Moscow. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated on the Telegram messaging app that the preliminary findings showed that the falling debris did not cause any casualties or property damage.