Russia claims it destroyed 4 US-made military boats heading toward Crimea

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia on Monday claimed that it destroyed four US-made military boats heading toward the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.

“On September 4, 2023, at night, in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, naval aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed four high-speed military boats manufactured by the US Willard Sea Force with landing groups of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” a Russian Defense Ministry statement said.

It said the military boats were heading toward Cape Tarkhankut, which is located in the southwestern part of the peninsula. It provided no further information on the alleged attack.

In a separate statement late Sunday, the ministry said that it foiled Ukrainian drone attacks over the Kursk region, as well as Crimea, destroying two unmanned aerial vehicles.

Ukrainian authorities have not yet commented on the claims, and independent verification of claims is difficult due to the ongoing war.

Drone strikes inside Russia have dramatically increased in recent months, notably in Moscow, in Ukraine’s Crimea territory illegally annexed by Russia, and in Russian regions bordering Ukraine, with authorities accusing Ukraine of being behind them.

Although Kyiv has not claimed responsibility, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in July that the attacks on Russian territory are an “inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process.”