Russian spy ship attacked in the Black Sea

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, a Russian spy ship was attacked by , at least, 3 marittime drones. The assault allegedly took place this morning at dawn, approximately seventy kilometers north of the Bosporus, a location over five hundred kilometers away from Odessa and situated along the merchant route connecting to the Mediterranean.

The target of the raid was the “Ivan Khurs” the most modern spy vessel of the Russian Navy.

The “Ivan Khurs”, a  Yuriy Ivanov class (Project 18280) is a new type of Russian SIGINT intelligence collection ship. The ship is designed by the JSC Central Design Bureau Iceberg. The displacement of the ship is more than 4,000 tons, the cruising range not less than 8,000 miles (13,000 km) and its armament consists of light anti-aircraft weapons. The ship on its performance characteristics and capabilities is considerably superior to similar vessels of previous generations mainly due to the versatility and high level of automation and systems integration.

The attack was reportedly launched simultaneously by three naval drones, but according to the russian media, the “Ivan Khurs” managed to repel them.

Two drones, NATO and USAF, were also present in the area this morning (but after the attack)

The area of attack would be (indicatively) here

The Ukrainians have allegedly developed and mass-produced a remotely operated naval vehicle equipped with an explosive warhead, which has been previously used to target Russian bases in Crimea. (for an in-depth study on Ukrainian maritime drones: http://www.hisutton.com/Ukraine-Maritime-Drones.html)