The Ukrainian army said on Monday that it had destroyed two Russian patrol boats near Serpents’ Island in the Black Sea, which has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance since the start of the invasion by Moscow forces on February 24.
“Two Russian Raptor-class boats were destroyed today near Serpents’ Island,” Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valeri Zaluzhny wrote on Facebook in a message accompanied bya video where we see two boats hit by two separate missiles.
“The Raptors left to join the Moskva”
“Bayraktar works,” he said, revealing the use in these two strikes of this combat drone developed in Turkey. Moscow did not confirm the information on its side. “Bayraktar sent two Russian patrol boats to hell at dawn today,” he added, in a message posted on Twitter by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
“The Raptors left to join the Moskva”, rejoiced in a video a representative of the Ukrainian army, Viadislav Nazarov, alluding to the Russian flagship, sunk in mid-April after having, according to kyiv, been hit by missiles Ukrainians. Moscow had claimed for its part that it had been damaged by an explosion on board.
The Russian Raptor-class patrol boats are among the fastest shuttles in the Russian Navy, reaching nearly 90 km/h at full speed. They can carry up to 20 soldiers in addition to the crew of three people.
“Fuck you, Russian military ship!” »
Serpents’ Island has become a symbol in Ukraine since a radio exchange, which went viral on social networks, in which, on the first day of the conflict, Ukrainian border guards shouted “Fuck you, Russian military ship!” to the Russian cruiser, the Moskva, which urged them to surrender.
Shortly after this exchange, the ship had bombarded the island, the Russians taking control of it, and the Ukrainian soldiers had been taken prisoner. They were later released in a prisoner exchange with Moscow.
The recording of this verbal exchange had served as a leitmotiv for the Ukrainian resistance, the invective of the border guards even appearing on placards during demonstrations of support abroad, and on Ukrainian stamps.
