WSJ: SBU “Sea Baby” sea drones laid underwater mines near Crimea — they blew up four Russian ships

“Sea Baby” drones of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in 2023 laid more than 15 underwater mines near the occupied Crimea, thanks to which it was possible to blow up at least four warships of the Russian fleet.

This is stated in the material of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The newspaper writes that after the first use of naval drones by the Ukrainians, the Russians closed the bay and ports of Sevastopol with barricades, which practically made surface attacks impossible. Therefore, the team of SBU head Vasyl Malyuk came up with an alternative option — the installation of sea mines. The profile team of the Security Service of Ukraine monitored the routes of Russian warships for more than a month, and then sent the Sea Baby on their way to lay mines.

Drones placed bottom mines made of plastic weighing 180 kg. They are difficult to detect because they sink into the mud under shallow water. Initially, two mines were placed — on September 14, 2023, the missile corvette "Samum" exploded on it, which, according to the publication, is still undergoing repairs in dry dock. After that, Sea Baby, having covered more than 4 800 km, deployed more than 15 more mines.

SBU Brigadier General Ivan "Hunter" Lukashevych told reporters that during one of the flights, Sea Baby encountered three Russian Raptor-class patrol boats — the drone opened fire with a grenade launcher and hit one boat.

Already on October 13, 2023, a large patrol boat "Pavlo Derzhavin" was blown up by a mine. It left Sevastopol Bay for repairs in another port. The large tug that was sent to rescue him also hit a mine. After the explosion, he had to be evacuated as well. A few days later, a mine was blown up by a modern anti-mine ship (minesweeper).

WSJ writes that Sea Baby drones have shown the worldʼs first example of successful remote mining.