Did Ukrainian drone hit Russia's intel ship Ivan Khurs in Black Sea? Here's what we know

Ukraine, earlier yesterday, declared that an uncrewed surface vessel [USV] had successfully destroyed the Russian Project 18280 Yuriy Ivanov class intelligence ship Ivan Khurs in the Black Sea, approximately 90 miles northeast of Turkey's Bosphorus Strait. As evidence, the Ukrainian military channel Orestocracy published a 14-second footage of the attack on the Russian intelligence vessel of the Black Sea Fleet with a naval drone, raising speculations that Moscow's vessel may have either caught fire or would've sunk after the attack. 

“GUR [Defense Intelligence of Ukraine] drones did hit the Russian scout Ivan Khurs, it was damaged. Video interception is proof of this," the status of the visuals claimed. “Konashenkov [the chief spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Defense] lied twice, claiming that all ‘three naval drones were destroyed from the standard armament of the Russian ship’ and that ‘the ship itself was not damaged.’ At least one of the drones hit an enemy object," it continued to add. 

I posted yesterday about a Russian Black Sea Fleet ship Ivan Khurs that was attacked by unmanned drones.

Russia claimed "the ship continues to carry out its functions" without mentioning its state.

It seems the third drone did manage to damage the ship? pic.twitter.com/ZdYyQQq10f

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) May 25, 2023

When the russian reconnaissance ship "Ivan Khurs" met a Ukrainian drone.
Indeed, a perfect match! pic.twitter.com/mW3clD0vHh

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 25, 2023

"When the Russian reconnaissance ship 'Ivan Khurs' met a Ukrainian drone. Indeed, a perfect match!" Ukraine's defense ministry tweeted.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's internal affairs ministry, also suggested that the third Ukrainian naval drone struck the Russian reconnaissance ship. "I posted yesterday about a Russian Black Sea Fleet ship Ivan Khurs that was attacked by unmanned drones," wrote Gerashchenko. "Russia claimed 'the ship continues to carry out its functions' without mentioning its state. It seems the third drone did manage to damage the ship?" A military source for Ukrainska Pravda confirmed that the Russian ship was damaged in a Ukrainian naval drone attack and that it needed urgent repairs. "The Russians are now hastily fixing it," the source was reported as saying. 

Russian Defense Ministry announced that Ukraine attempted to attack the Ivan Khurs signals intelligence ship of the Russian Navy with 3 unmanned surface vessels (USVs) in the Black Sea this morning.

Moscow released footage allegedly showing the destruction of one of the USVs. pic.twitter.com/YfS7xWSGWw

— Status-6 (@Archer83Able) May 24, 2023

#Ukraine: Yesterday, 🇷🇺MoD claimed to foil a Ukrainian attempt to attack the "Ivan Khurs" intelligence ship in the Black Sea with 3x kamikaze uncrewed surface vessels, showing one destroyed by fire from the ship.

However, video from 🇺🇦 sources shows that a USV reached the ship. pic.twitter.com/6nlhOMs7Y6

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) May 25, 2023

Ivan Khurs seen returning to port of Sevastopol in Crimea

On Friday, May 26 however, Russia's Ministry of Defense posted footage showing the return of the reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs to the port of Sevastopol in Crimea. It claimed that Ukraine launched an "unsuccessful" attack on the ship with the naval drones but that Kyiv's drones were "destroyed by fire from the standard armament of the Russian ship" before they could strike Ivan Khurs. Russian MoD released another footage allegedly showing the destruction of one of Ukraine's marine drones. As the USV approaches Russa's Ivan Khurs scores of tracer rounds fired from a deck-mounted 14.5mm machine guns narrowly miss the vessel, but eventually appear to strike the bow ending in a huge explosion. The incident, according to Russian Defense Ministry, occurred at around 5:30 am Moscow Time earlier yesterday.

🇷🇺 Oh look, Russian reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs returning to port in Sevastopol, Crimea, Russia.

Looking good as new despite Kiev regime attempting to spread false rumors it was heavily damaged on the shown side by Ukrainian Ghost of Kyiv class suicide drone boats . pic.twitter.com/VtY7uFUZPT

— Hawkeye1812Z (@Hawkeye1745) May 26, 2023

Credit: Russian MoD.

“Today at  5:30 am, the Ukrainian armed forces made an unsuccessful attempt to attack the Ivan Khurs ship of the Black Sea fleet with three unmanned speedboats,” the Russian MoD said in a statement.

The ship “is performing tasks to ensure the safety of the operation of the Turkish Stream and Blue Stream gas pipelines in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Turkey.”

Moscow's intelligence vessel, commissioned in June 2018, is equipped with four MTPU marine pedestal mounts that carry 14.5mm KPVT machine guns on the deck armed with 32 9M39 missiles, and at least six 9K38 Igla surface-to-air missile [SAM] systems. In the video, the Igla SAM launcher is unmanned. At the time it was intercepted and attacked by Ukrainian USVs, Russia's Yury Ivanov-class intel ship was conducting a security mission near the waterways where trans-Black Sea gas pipelines—TurkStream and Blue Stream—run.  Russia's defence ministry claims that Ukraine's drones “were destroyed by fire" launched from the weapon systems on the ship, following which, it resumed its mission.