Ukraine says sank Russian patrol boats near Snake Island

Kyiv said Monday its drones sunk two Russian patrol boats near Snake Island in the Black Sea, where Ukrainian forces defied Moscow’s requests to surrender at the outset of the assault.

“Two Russian Raptor boats were destroyed at dawn today near Snake Island,“ Ukraine’s defence ministry stated in a statement shared on social media.

Ariel footage of an explosion aboard a small military vessel was also provided by the defence ministry in blurry black and white.

The commander in chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, was quoted in the statement as stating, “the Bayraktars are working.” He was referring to Turkish-made military drones.

Raptor patrol boats may transport up to three crew members and twenty passengers. They are often armed with machine guns and used for reconnaissance or landing missions.

Snake Island became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance after a radio exchange in which Ukrainian forces resisted efforts by the crew of a Russian cruiser to surrender went viral.

The Russian ship involved, the Moskva, sank in the Black Sea in mid-April after an explosion on board, according to Moscow. Ukraine claimed to have fired missiles at the cruiser.

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