Ukraine and Russia clash in ‘first-ever’ drone battle at sea, video shows

There were no survivors in this sea battle.

Ukraine’s navy released video of what it calls footage of the “first-ever” battle between sea drones.

The dramatic footage, taken from onboard its own vessel, shows the remotely piloted Ukrainian vessel firing on an Russian ship.

Ukraine’s navy released footage of a battle at sea between its Sargan 3000 and an unmanned Russian vessel. X/@Osinttechnical

“This marks the first-ever naval engagement between uncrewed surface vessels,” a statement posted to the Ukrainian Navy’s Telegram account said Saturday.

The Navy on its Telegram account called it “the first-ever battle” between such vessels. X/@Osinttechnical

The statement said the country’s military intelligence agency joined in the operation involving the remotely controlled drone, according to the statement that referred to its uncrewed surface vessel as the Sargan 3000, which was armed with a 12.7 mm “Protector” weapon.

The battle comes in a deadly war that has increasingly featured drone warfare in the sky, with Russia using Iranian and other “kamikaze” drones to bombard Ukrainian cities.

Since Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv has developed a cadre of drones to intercept Russian strikes while also striking increasingly deeper into the motherland.

The Post wasn’t able to independently identify the vessel that was destroyed or when the clash took place.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has featured regular advances in drone technology. X/@Osinttechnical
The encounter, which couldn’t be independently verified, sent the drone to the sea bottom, but there were no apparent sailors headed to Davy Jones’s Locker. X/@Osinttechnical

Just last week, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boasted about a US Navy drone sub it captured, raising fears it could try to reverse-engineer the technology or hand it over to Russia or China.

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