Russia said on Tuesday it “destroyed” a US-made speedboat carrying Ukrainian troops near Serpent Island in the Black Sea just hours after it announced it had attacked a reconnaissance vessel in Kiev.
“The US Willard Sea Force speedboat carrying a Ukrainian armed forces landing party was destroyed by a Russian armed forces aircraft east of Serpent Island,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on the Telegram social network.
Liberated by Ukraine last year, the island has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion of the country, which began on February 24, 2022.
Earlier, the ministry announced that a Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter jet had destroyed a Ukrainian army reconnaissance ship in the area of gas production facilities in the Black Sea.
Ukraine, which never gives details of its losses, has said nothing about these incidents.
The information released by the two sides about the course of the war cannot immediately be independently confirmed.
Kiev and Moscow have stepped up military activity in the Black Sea since Russia pulled out of a deal to export Ukrainian grain in mid-July.
Russia claims it has prevented a series of attacks by Ukrainian naval drones on its military ships, including one last Thursday when it said a drone had attacked its fleet in the Black Sea.
With Lusa
Source: DN
