This is the moment Ukrainian Bayraktar drones reportedly destroy two Russian vessels in the Black Sea.
The strikes reportedly took place near Snake Island, also known as Zmiinyi Island, located in the Black Sea near the Danube Delta in the early hours of this morning (2nd May).
General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) said in a statement on 2nd May: “Two Russian Raptor boats were destroyed at dawn today near Snake Island.”
Ukrainian general Valerii Zaluzhnyi, 48, said the strikes were carried out by a Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle and were a success.
The Commander-in-Chief of the AFU said the Bayraktars are “working well” after the destruction of the two Russian vessels.
The Ukrainian military added: “Together to victory!”
In the footage, a boat is seen seemingly stationary at sea before being hit and then another vessel that suddenly tries to speed away is then also destroyed in the Black Sea.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin called a “special military operation”. Today marks the 68th day of the invasion.
From 24th February to 29th April, the total combat losses of Russian troops stand at around 23,800 personnel, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military also claims that Russia has lost 1,048 battle tanks, 2,519 combat armored vehicles, 459 artillery systems, 152 MLR systems, 80 anti-aircraft systems, 194 warplanes, 155 helicopters, 1,824 vehicles, 8 vessels, 76 fuel tank trucks, 271 operational-tactical level UAVs, 38 units of special equipment, and four mobile SRBM systems.
The UK has also released data claiming that they believe more than a quarter of the ground combat forces committed to the war in Ukraine have likely been “rendered combat ineffective” because of their losses.
The news comes as President Putin has reportedly agreed “in principle” to the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol by representatives of the United Nations and the International Committee for the Red Cross. The Russian leader made the concession to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a meeting in Moscow.
In the latest update, it was revealed that 100 civilians already evacuated from the besieged steel works were expected to arrive in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia shortly.
Elsewhere in the fighting, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that a missile strike destroyed a hangar and the runway at a military airport near the coastal city of Odesa. They claimed that the hangar contained Western-supplied weapons and ammunition.
Fighting has also intensified in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region where the regional governor Oleh Synehubov said the people in the north and east of the city of the same name should remain in shelters because of heavy Russian bombing.
And the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaidai, urged people in his city to leave while they still could.
