On May 24, 2023, the Russian MoD released a video showing an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) attacking the Russian intelligence ship Ivan Khurs in the Black Sea, approximately 140 kilometers north-east of the Istanbul Strait. Ivan Khurs is a Yuriy Ivanov class (Project 18280) SIGINT intelligence collection ship (also known as AGI).
In the video, the attack of a maneuvering USV can be clearly seen. The Russian ship attacked the surface drone with a machine gun (probably a 14.5 mm gun), causing the USV to explode. Given the power of the explosion, one can assume that it was fully loaded with explosives.
In the announcement, the Russian MoD stated that Ivan Khurs was patrolling the area in order to ensure the safety of the Turkish Stream and Blue Stream pipelines.
“At 05:30 a.m. the Ukrainian Armed Forces unsuccessfully attempted to attack the Black Sea Fleet’s Ivan Khurs ship, which is carrying out tasks to ensure the safety operation of the Turkish Stream and Blue Stream pipelines in the exclusive economic zone of Turkey, by three unmanned speed boats.”
Russian MoD on social media
The ministry also stated that the incident occurred 140 km northeast of the Strait of Istanbul and claimed that all of Ivan Khurs‘ boats were neutralized. Ukrainian officials did not comment on the incident.
A day later, Ukrainian OSINT Twitter accounts shared a new video showing that a USV reached the reconnaissance ship, but no explosion was recorded as the camera is fitted on the kamikaze boat. It is still unclear whether the USV managed to explode after hitting the ship, but this is the most likely scenario.
Russia-linked accounts shared a video on Telegram that Ivan Khurs entered the port safely and without damage. However, the exact date and time of the video are unclear.
Author’s comment
There are some issues with this incident that need to be clarified, but it doesn’t seem possible due to the fog of war.
Firstly, Russia’s statement mentioning that Ivan Khurs was ensuring the safety of the pipelines was not convincing. Because;
- This is an intelligence ship and doesn’t have the capability to take relevant measures if she detects any attack on the pipelines.
- She doesn’t feature underwater detection systems or ROVs to monitor the pipelines.
Another question is how the Ukrainian USV could reach a ship that was about 450-500 km away from Odesa. Although we do not know the exact specifications of the USV, such as range, endurance, fuel capacity, communication equipment, etc., it is not easy to go to such a distant location because endurance and control are problematic. Controlling the drone via satellite is an option, but not easy given the size, seaworthiness, and endurance of the USV.
The attempted attack is a clear sign of the paradigm shift in naval warfare, and no place is safe from kamikaze USV attacks.
Update
The Ivan Khurs AGI ship appears to have made it back safely at its homeport of Sevastopol this morning (26 May 2023) under its own power and seemingly with little to no damages. Caveats apply as this may be file footage: