Ukrainian forces destroy Ivanovets missile boat of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Why it matters

Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, commented on the destruction of the boat.

"This is a really serious result, because there were three such ships, the so-called missile boats, in service with the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Now there is minus one. The corvette was also the pride of the Russian fleet. However, we see that this pride could not cope with the challenges. During combat duty, it was destroyed without any hope of recovery. Rescue efforts also yielded no results," Yusov noted. 

Earlier, the Main Intelligence Directorate reported on the successful operation to destroy the boat.

The Russian missile boat was on a raid on Lake Donuzlav in the temporarily occupied Crimea. As a result of direct hits to the hull, the ship was damaged and sank.

"The cost of the ship lost by the aggressor state is approximately USS 60-70 million," Ukrainian intelligence wrote.

According to the Ukrainian Navy, a missile boat of the Russian 41st Missile Boat Brigade was on combat duty, guarding the base in Novoozerne.

"This is a rather significant loss, given the presence of only three such boats of the 1241.1 project in the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the weapons, including anti-ship missiles of the Moskit type with a range of up to 130 km," the statement says.

The Ukrainian Navy also said that, given the staffing level of 40 sailors, the consequences for the Russian ship fleet are likely to be significant.

For reference. According to the Militarnyi website, the Project 12411 boat Ivanovets was launched in 1989 at the Srednenevsky Shipyard in St. Petersburg. It is designed to combat enemy surface targets. For this purpose, the boat is armed with a 76-millimeter AK-176 artillery system and four launchers for P-270 Moskit anti-ship cruise missiles. The anti-aircraft component of the ship is represented by two six-barrel 30-mm AK-630M guns.

On July 21, 2023, during training exercises in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, the Ivanovets sank the Ukrainian corvette Ternopil, captured in 2014, with an anti-ship cruise missile.

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