The volunteer group GeoConfirmed analyzed the explosions that rang out in the bay of occupied Sevastopol on October 29 and said that drones hit at least three ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
They obtained this information from an analysis of visual content recorded by surveillance cameras in the bay and USV water drones — they were in the harbor and open sea near Sevastopol at the time of the strike.
One of the videos shows attacks on the Admiral Hryhorovych-class frigate, which in the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation is matched only by the ship Admiral Makarov (it was from its side that Russia repeatedly launched Kalibr cruise missiles over the territory of Ukraine).
"Filming was interrupted when, presumably, the drone hit the ship and exploded," the investigators said in a statement.
Also on the video is the minesweeper "Ivan Golubets", which was also probably hit by a drone. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, this ship received "minor" damage.
“The USV was indeed in the harbor between the ships looking for its target. Based on the footage, it can be concluded that he was near at least four ships and practically made a U-turn to attack the target," the investigators note.
They suggest that six USV surface drones breached the defenses of Sevastopol Harbor and hit at least three ships. At the same time, two such drones were probably destroyed by Russian forces.
- On October 29, the occupiers announced that ships of the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea "repelled an attack by drones" in the morning. Local residents reported explosions in the Sevastopol area. Subsequently, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that the Ukrainian military attacked Sevastopol with land and sea drones. The minesweeper "Ivan Golubets" was damaged.
- Operational Command "South" has no information about attacks on ships in Sevastopol Bay. There it is assumed that the explosions could have been caused by the launch of anti-aircraft missiles by the invaders.
- After that, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced about the terrorist attack, that it was allegedly carried out by fighters of the 73rd special center of naval operations, who were trained by representatives of the British Navy unit. The same British representatives were accused by the Russian agency of organizing explosions at the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.