The casualties will be a setback for Putin’s slow-motion invasion of Ukraine, which is gaining headway in the east but at a high cost in lives and equipment.
The Ukrainian navy published video of an anti-ship missile striking the tug Vasily Bekh at 4 a.m. as it brought men, guns, and ammo to Snake Island, which is highly disputed.
Although the tug’s Tor anti-air missile system failed to stop the attack, it stayed afloat and was being evacuated for repairs after suffering considerable damage.
According to initial accounts, it was hit by a Harpoon missile, although there was also suspicion that it was attacked by a Brimstone missile supplied by the United Kingdom or a ship-based missile defense system.
The hit on the Russian Black Sea naval tug was captured on video by a Bayraktar TB2 drone that was loitering nearby, albeit it seems unlikely that the drone fired the missile.
The strike was first claimed by Maxim Marchenko, the leader of the Odessa-based regional military administration, but the video was then removed from the Ukrainian navy’s Twitter account.
Since 2017, the Vasyl Bekh has been a part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Meanwhile, footage from the front lines in the Donetsk area shows a Russian Mi-35M attack helicopter engulfed in flames after being damaged by an Igla MANPADS (man-portable air defense system).
The Igla is a Soviet-made infrared homing surface-to-air missile system that was once held by Ukraine’s military. There were contradictory allegations that the missile was a Stinger provided by the United States.
The downing of the Russian helicopter was claimed by the Azov SSO battalion.
Intense yet attritional trench and artillery combat has raged in Ukraine’s eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, as Vladimir Putin attempts to annex the territories to Russia, abandoning loftier goals of seizing the entire country.
The most recent severe battle has taken place around Severdonetsk, 60 miles north of Donetsk, where an assault helicopter was reported shot down.
On Russian territory in the Belgorod area, which shares borders with Ukraine’s Luhansk, Kharkiv, and Sumy districts, a video shows the burnt wreckage of a Russian SU-25 fighter jet.
The reason of the accident was not immediately known, however there were suspicions that it was shot down. The accident location is approximately 32 kilometers from Ukraine’s border.
According to Russian accounts, the pilot successfully evacuated after being damaged by Ukraine.
The Su-25 was on a training flight rather than a combat mission, according to the Russian western military region, which indicated a ‘technical problem’ as a probable explanation.
It was also said to have impacted low-power wires.
However, according to the Readovka media site, there are no power pylons in the area.
Two military planes were flying when a cloud of smoke appeared, according to one eyewitness. The second plane circled the accident location.
‘A Su-25 crashed today during a planned training flight in the Belgorod region,’ according to a Russian military statement.
‘The pilot was taken to the base airstrip after ejecting. There is no danger to the pilot’s health.
‘The plane went down in a lonely area.’ On the ground, there was no devastation.
‘Preliminary evidence suggests that the disaster was caused by a technological fault.’
The Russian losses came as Britain’s military chief declared that Russia has already’strategically lost’ the fight in Ukraine.
After nearly four months of battle, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin declared Russia was “a more reduced power” capable of only “small” territorial gains.
It has essentially gained control of Ukraine’s eastern regions, but at a significant cost, he noted, estimated to be a fourth of the country’s military resources.
It is out of troops and sophisticated missiles and will never be able to seize control of the rest of the country.
He commented as Defence Secretary Ben Wallace confirmed that the UK has purchased over 20 M109 long-range weapons for deployment in Ukraine. The 155mm projectiles fired by the Belgian-made weaponry have a range of up to 25 kilometers.