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Ukraine has unveiled new footage of Kyiv's experimental "Sea Baby" waterborne drones, which Ukraine is using to open up new attacks on Russian forces in the Black Sea as its land counteroffensive grinds on in the east and south of the country.
In an article published on Tuesday, CNN showed a clip from Ukraine's security services (SBU) showing Kyiv's "Sea Baby" waterborne drone attacking the Kerch Bridge in mid-July.
The Kerch Bridge, also known as the Crimea Bridge, has been repeatedly struck with missile and drone attacks, although Ukraine has been coy about claiming responsibility. On July 17, Russian authorities said two Ukrainian unmanned service vehicles (USVs) had targeted the bridge overnight. Moscow said two adults had been killed and one child was injured.
The bridge connects mainland Russia to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014. Kyiv has vowed to reclaim Crimea, which also offers a supply route for Russian troops in occupied southern mainland Ukraine via the Chonhar bridge to Kherson.
Back in October 2022, the Kerch Bridge was damaged in an explosion that Moscow blamed on Ukraine, though Kyiv had never officially claimed responsibility for the blast.
Experts had suggested that Russia was struggling to detect naval drones like those targeting Crimea's bridges. "Early detection is key," Oleg Vornik, the CEO of drone and counter-UAS defense firm, DroneShield, told Newsweek.
Russian warships "have more than enough guns to deal with threats like this—if they spot them," he added.
Vasyl Maliuk, the head of Ukraine's security branch, the SBU, told CNN that "sea surface drones are a unique invention of the Security Service of Ukraine" rather than a private venture, and acknowledged Ukraine's role in the October and July attacks.
Ukraine's naval drones, both surface and underwater, are broadly made up of a standard set of components, but each unmanned vehicle is likely to be very slightly different to the last, according to U.K.-based drone expert, Steve Wright.
"You can tailor the vehicle to the mission," he told Newsweek on Wednesday. But this type of USV typically has a turret with a camera at the front and a conventional maritime radar fixed to the top, as seen in the SBU's footage. Ukraine is likely to be selective about using this radar, he added, as one of the drones' key advantages is how difficult they are to detect.
Releasing this footage is also a calculated risk against operational security on Ukraine's part, he said, but one outweighed by the benefits of keeping the Western spotlight—and interest—on Ukraine's armed forces.
"We are working on a number of new interesting operations, including in the Black Sea waters," Maliuk said. "I promise you, it'll be exciting, especially for our enemies."
Maliuk said these "Sea Baby" drones had been used to carry out a "successful hit" on the Kerch Bridge, the Russian assault vessel, Olenegorskiy Gornyak, and Moscow's SIG tanker in the Black Sea. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry.
Ukraine said its naval drones struck a Russian warship in Russia's Black Sea base at Novorossiysk earlier this month. Moscow denied that the landing ship, the Olenegorsky Gornyak, had been damaged. However, Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's security service, said the ship was not able to perform combat missions, and the British Defense Ministry said it had "almost certainly suffered serious damage."
The following day, Russia's Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport said Ukrainian waterborne drones had struck a Russian oil tanker, the SIG, close to the Kerch Strait Bridge.
In a post to social media on August 5, Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said that with each mission, Ukrainian drones in the sea and air "become more accurate, operators more experienced, combat coordination more effective, and manufacturers get the opportunity to improve tactical and technical characteristics."
Update 08/17/23 11:50 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional comment from Oleg Vornik.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more