According to several OSINT accounts informing on social media about the latest developments in the Russian-Ukrainian war, the ceremony was attended by Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Gavrylov, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Valery Zaluzhny , Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Lieutenant General Serhiy Shaptala and personnel of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Chief of the Ukrainian Navy, Vice Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, said that the boat will be part of the river flotilla established last year in the Kyiv region.
The boat was spotted on the Dniepr river conducting factory acceptance trials in February 2023.
The construction of Bucha (named after the city where the Russian Armed Forces have shown particular cruelty to civilians in the first month of their invasion of Ukraine), began in 2019. According to plans, she was to be built in just four months, after which she would be launched and sent out for shipbuilder trials. However, its production was frozen and did not resume until July 2021.
The fundamental reason for the delay was the financial situation of the “Kuznia na Rybalskom” shipyard and accusations of corruption by authorities and government officials. In December 2020, “Kuznia” halted the construction of MBAK-08, as well as the third fast assault craft of Project 58503 Kentavr-LK (Centaur). Commander of the Ukrainian Naval Forces Rear Admiral Oleksiy Nejizhpapa (now a Vice Admiral) announced that the fleet would be limited to eight Gyurza-M gunboats. In July 2021, the shipyard resumed work on the cutter. The vessel was successfully launched on September 30, 2021.
Of the first seven ships, the Ukrainians lost four units: Akkerman, Kremenchuk and Vyshhorod were captured by the Russians during the war against Ukraine, while Lubny was sunk during the fighting for Mariupol.
As Naval News reported previously, a vessel of the class was struck by Russian forces using a Lancet loitering munition.
Gyurza-M class gunboats
Bucha is armed with two KAU-30M (original designation BM-5M.01 Katran-M) modules, which are a variant of the BM-3 Shturm combat module developed for armored vehicles. Each is fitted with a 30 mm ZTM-1 automatic gun, a 30 mm KBA-117 automatic grenade launcher and a 7.62 mm PKT machine gun, as well as two Barrier guided anti-tank missiles.
The Gyurza-M type cutter displaces 54 tons and measures 23.0×4.8×1.0 meters. Powered by two diesels, it provides a speed of 25 knots. The crew consists of five soldiers. The gunboat is equipped with a Delta-M navigational radar and a Sarmat observation and targeting EOS.
