The Ukrainian Air Force identified and destroyed Russian forces that were deployed from Crimea to the north-western part of the Black Sea.
Recently released footage shows how Russians arrived at the end point and started unloading ammunition from one of the boats when a Ukrainian assault drone operator launched a rocket and destroyed the boat with ammunition, killing almost a dozen troops in the process.
Interestingly, this time, Ukrainians used Bayraktar TB2 aerial drones, which we have not seen in a while. Previously, Ukrainians stopped using them because Russians adjusted their air defense and did not allow for extensive use. However, recently, in certain locations, the situation changed in favor of Ukrainians once again.
By the way, several days ago, Ukrainians conducted another special operation slightly south of where the Russians were destroyed today. The goal of the Ukrainian special operation was to improve control over the Black Sea. As mentioned previously, one of the ways Ukrainians achieve it is by establishing radars and surveillance systems on the oil rigs along the Crimean shore.
Some Russian analysts also speculated that Ukrainians even temporarily station or assemble their marine drones on these oil rigs and establish anti-ship missiles that are capable of striking ground targets to destroy the Russian air defense along the shore.
Russian forces are obviously actively trying to prevent Ukrainians from carrying out their plans. Usually, Russians send their fighter jets or helicopters to eliminate the threat. That is why the boats have to constantly maneuver to dodge the fire.
Unfortunately, during one such operation, one of the Ukrainian soldiers fell off the speed boat when it made a sharp turn. In the heat of the fight for survival, the crew could not afford to try to dodge cluster bombs and save the soldier simultaneously. The best bet was to deal with the Russians first and then rescue the soldier.
In order to make sure that the soldier was not lost, a Ukrainian reconnaissance drone operator started tracking down the drifting soldier with thermal cameras. The fighter jet could not get close to the boat for fear of being shot down, just like the previous one, so soon, the jet ran out of ammunition without successfully hitting the boat, and the threat disappeared.
Nonetheless, the rescue mission turned out to be much more difficult than expected because Russians continued sending one fighter jet after another to hunt down the Ukrainian boat crew, so the moment the boats tried to get closer to the soldier, they were chased by the jets.
The rescue operation continued for 12 hours until the Russians gave up. The soldier spent 12 hours in the middle of the Black Sea until he was eventually rescued.
The fact that the special operators managed to survive operating so close to Crimea and fighting off fighter jets while simultaneously filming everything with reconnaissance drones once again demonstrates that Ukrainians greatly improved their control over the Black Sea
This had the biggest impact on the Russian forces in the western part of the Kherson region. As Russians here are virtually surrounded, Ukrainians are constantly destroying Russian bases on this isolated peninsula. Only in August Ukrainians destroyed two bases and multiple air defense and radiolocation systems, and over the last week, Ukrainians conducted at least three more successful strikes.
The target of the first HIMARS strike became a Russian base in Sadove.
The target of the second strike became yet another air defense system.
And the third target became one of the most advanced and expensive radar systems Predel-E, which costs almost a quarter of a billion dollars, and an electronic warfare system Layer-2.
By the way, this is exactly where the Ukrainians destroyed the Russian boat today from a Bayraktar.
Based on such geolocated videos, it seems like Ukrainians gained complete freedom of movement in the air above the western part of the Kherson region and, by extension, the western shore of Crimea, despite the best Russian efforts to prevent it.
Recently released footage shows how Russians saw one Ukrainian reconnaissance drone and sent 2 helicopters to chase it and shoot it down. The helicopters even bumped several times into the drone but never managed to shoot it down. After a long chase, the drone operator managed to escape and return the drone basically intact.
Such a high freedom of movement in the air has already brought Russians a lot of trouble. Recently, Russian analysts stated that Ukrainians started launching their drone attacks on Crimea directly via Kherson.
They concluded that Ukrainians are now capable of developing new trajectories in the heart of Crimea, increasing the chances of repeating the series of devastating strikes on the Russian bases and logistical centers.
And, on top of that, some sources mentioned that Ukrainians started exploiting this weakness by conducting marine operations on the Kinburn peninsula.
Such a setting leaves Russians in a position where they don’t know what to expect next.
In our daily frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
