VIDEO WITH COMMENTARY SUMMATION
25 May: Dead on Target! Russian INTELLIGENCE SHIP SUFFERS AN EXPLOSION | War in Ukraine Explained
Reporting from Ukraine
266K subscribers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upfwuU3pLZk
⚠️ Watch RFU in 18+ languages: https://www.youtube.com/@RFU/channels
I am Ukrainian. My country has been invaded by Russia. In this video I will tell you what happened on the four hundred and fifty sixth day of the war.
Day 456: May 25
First of all, today, Ukrainians published a video of how they attacked the Russian intelligence ship Ivan Khurs with marine kamikaze drones. The attack happened yesterday, and the first videos were published by the Russian Ministry of defense. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that Ukrainians attacked the ship with 3 uncrewed surface vessels and that all of them were destroyed, although the published video only showed the destruction of 1 drone. Later Russian sources published a photo allegedly of the return of the intact ship to Sevastopol.
Today Ukrainians published footage of one drone actually hitting the intelligence ship, which put the Russian Ministry of Defense and all Russian sources in a very inconvenient position. It looks like Ukrainians delayed the release of the footage on purpose to further discredit the Russian Ministry of Defense for reporting false information, as not all drones were neutralized, and at least one actually hit the target. Moreover, the arriving in Sevastopol ship is not the same and is actually a mine sweeper Aleksandrit. The fate of the intelligence ship is yet unknown, but even if Ukrainians failed to sink it, they still killed at least one bird by conducting a successful information operation.
Today at night Ukrainians also conducted a drone strike on the Russian military objects in Crimea. Some Russian sources reported that Ukrainians launched up to 16 drones. Later, Russian sources reported neutralizing seven drones. In the meantime, local residents reported seeing an explosion in a warehouse near Dzhankoi, which later caught on fire. The goal of the drone attack once again seems to be undermining Russian capabilities to supply the Kherson group because there are a lot of important railway connections and warehouses around Dzhankoi.
Less than an hour ago, Ukrainians conducted a massive Storm Shadow missile strike on Berdyansk. This is the second strike over the last 3 days, and if previously Ukrainians hit military facilities on the airfield, then today, at least 4 explosions reportedly happened in the harbor. Judging by the footage, Ukrainians managed to destroy at least 1 ammunition depot.
A series of explosions were also reported in the main centers on the Zaporizhia front, namely in Vasylivka, Tokmak, and Melitopol. Local residents published footage of smoke near the Melitopol airfield. Later, it was confirmed that the Ukrainian air defense managed to shoot down a Russian fighter jet near Melitopol and also struck at least two command centers in Vasylivka and Tokmak.
Explosions were also reported on the territory of the Russian Federation. Local residents managed to catch on camera how the Russian air defense shot down an object in the vicinity of an airfield in the Rostov region. Some sources claimed that it was a Ukrainian drone attack, while other sources speculated that it could have been a drill.
In anticipation that the next Ukrainian strike might as well target the Crimean Bridge, Russian forces closed the bridge and conducted military exercises under cover of a smokescreen. For now, it is unclear whether the official explanation is correct or whether Russians used the smokescreen to conceal something else.
Overall, after conducting up to a dozen missile strikes on Luhansk, as expected, Ukrainians gradually shifted their focus to the Zaporizhzhia direction. The main targets right now are the deep rear supply hubs, such as Berdyansk, even though Ukrainians are also hitting other targets closer to the contact line. Berdyansk not only connects Melitopol and Mariupol and is out of reach of HIMARS rockets, but it also receives a lot of supplied via the Azov Sea, which is why over the last year, Russians have created a lot of military warehouses that Ukrainians are now striking with Storm Shadow missiles almost every day.
** Select the 3 horozontal dots to view a Complete Transcript
ARTICLE
Videos of Ukrainian drone boats swarming a Russian target end in explosion, mystery
Explosive-laden done boats have entered the chat.
taskandpurpose.com
MATT WHITE
PUBLISHED MAY 25, 2023 2:51 PM EDT
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/ukrainian-drone-boats-russian-target-videos/
New videos of a desperate shootout between a Russian Naval ship and at least two Ukrainian boat drones end in a huge but harmless explosion and, more ominously, a broken video feed with all the hallmarks of a direct hit on a Russian intelligence-gathering ship.
The videos, which emerged over the course of 24 hours from official news sources in both countries, show intense scenes of combat on the high seas, with an unclear finish.
Ukrainians have used explosives-laden drone boats to attack Russian naval targets in the past, including a swarming assault in 2022 in Sevastopol that damaged ships in Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
The new videos spread online over the past two days, with both Russian state media RT and the Twitter feed of the Ukrainian military claiming different parts of the footage showed a victory.
The first video, which spread on May 24, is taken from the deck of a large ship, watching an unmanned drone boat charge toward it. Tracer rounds from gunfire that appear to be heavy-caliber weapons impact in the water around the small boat until one seems to hit it squarely, causing a large explosion.
VIDEO-1 Ukraine tried attacking a Russian Ship with 3 explosive filled drone boats, video of 1 of the 3 that got demilitarised.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1661721846033547264
The flash, fireball, and size of the explosion show all the trademarks of high explosives found in bombs and other military ordnance.
The second video, which circulated on the morning of May 25, shows a similar encounter but from a different angle and may have ended much differently. In this video, the camera is mounted on the drone boat, broadcasting its approach to a Russian naval ship. Tracer rounds flash past it, similar to the first video, but none hit the boat.
Most online information available about the Ivan Khurs indicates it permanently carries just two heavy machine guns for self-defense.
In the final moments of the video, the boat maneuvers to within feet of the Russian ship’s stern, more or less adjacent to its engine compartments. The video then cuts out.
VIDEO-2 When the russian reconnaissance ship “Ivan Khurs” met a Ukrainian drone.
Indeed, a perfect match!
https://twitter.com/i/status/1661789365582921744
Though there is no way to confirm the outcome of the attack — or even the legitimacy of either video — if the second boat triggered an explosion similar to the one seen in the first video, the Russian ship likely suffered serious damage.