Before the attack on the submarine, SBU disabled a Russian plane that could have harmed the operation

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported that before the successful attack on the Russian submarine Varshavyanka in Novorossiysk, it disabled an Il-38N anti-submarine aircraft. It could have harmed the operation.

The modernized Il-38N reconnaissance aircraft is designed for maritime reconnaissance, submarine search, water area control, laying sea mines and torpedo strikes. In the Black Sea, the occupiers had only one aircraft of this class, capable of detecting Sub Sea Baby underwater drones — it actively countered Ukrainian attacks. The estimated cost of the Il-38N is $24 million.

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To strike it at the Yeisk airbase, SBU used a drone with a warhead that exploded above the ground. Two thousand warheads fell on the main equipment and radar compartment, and damaged the engine.

• A Varshavyanka-class diesel-electric submarine was attacked by “Sub Sea Baby” drones on December 15 in the port of Novorossiysk. The vessel was critically damaged and effectively disabled. It was carrying four “Kalibr” cruise missile launchers. This class of submarines is known as the “Black Hole” due to the hull’s ability to absorb sound and remain invisible to sonar.
• In August 2024, the Ukrainian Armed Forces sank the Russian submarine Rostov-on-Don in Sevastopol Bay. In September 2023, it was damaged during an attack on the Sevastopol Naval Plant. Rostov-on-Don became the first submarine to be sunk during the Russo-Ukrainian War, as well as the first submarine in history to be destroyed by a cruise missile.

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