The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on its X/Twitter account on 1 February 2024 that its forces had sunk the Russian Tarantul-class corvette Ivanovets, posting dramatic infra-red footage of the attack to corroborate its claim.
The footage showed numerous attacks on the ship using bomb-laden unmanned surface vessels (USVs) zig-zagging their way to the target. The USVs scored multiple hits before a major explosion – possibly caused by one of the corvette’s anti-ship missiles detonating – caused the vessel to sink.
“Warriors of the special unit Group 13 of [Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate] destroyed the missile corvette Ivanovets of the Russian Black Sea Fleet,” the MoD stated. “As a result of a number of direct hits to the hull, the corvette was damaged, rolled to the stern, and sank. The value of the ship is approximately USD 60–70 million [EUR 55-64 million].”
The attack was mounted on the night of 31 January/1 February, targeting Ivanovets while the ships was in the vicinity of Lake Donuzlav on the Western coast of Russian-occupied Crimea.
The sinking of Ivanovets is another major scalp in the Ukrainian military’s campaign against the Black Sea Fleet since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After famously sinking the Slava-class cruiser Moskva using Nepture anti-ship missiles on 13 April 2022, Ukrainian forces destroyed the Ropucha-class landing ship Minsk on 13 September 2023 with air-launched Storm Shadow missiles. Another Ropucha-class vessel, Novocherkassk, was struck by air-launched cruise missiles on 26 December 2023 and probably destroyed.
Other major naval vessels, including a ‘Kilo’-class submarine, have been significantly damaged, possibly beyond repair, and numerous smaller vessels sunk.
The successful targeting of Ivanovets, however, is a particular military success, given the ship’s cruise-missile-launching capability.
The attack also shows that the Russian Navy appears to have learned relatively little in how to defend its warships against the Ukrainian attacks.
