ISW Confirms Ukrainian Strike Sank Russian Tarantul Patrol Ship

Ukrainian strikes on the temporarily occupied Crimea at the end of December last year sank a Russian patrol ship of the Tarantul class, according to the Jan. 18 report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

“Ukrainian partisans and satellite imagery confirmed that Ukrainian strikes against occupied Crimea in late December 2023 sank a Russian Tarantul-class corvette near Sevastopol,” the report said.

On Jan. 18, the Atesh partisan movement announced it had discovered a sunken Tarantul-class patrol ship at a pier in Grafska Bay in Sevastopol. Satellite data provided by the guerrillas indicates that the ship sank sometime between December 28 and 31, according to the ISW.

The Russian and occupying authorities of Crimea claimed Russian military forces had successfully repelled strikes by Ukrainian air and sea drones on Sevastopol on December 29 and 30.

The  ISW analysis seems to contradict that: “This confirmation of a previously unaccounted-for successful Ukrainian strike indicates that Ukraine's recent strike campaign against occupied Crimea may have been more successful than has been confirmed thus far by open sources.”

The Krym.Realii publication reported that on December 28, a series of explosions were heard near Cossack Bay and the Krasnoperekopsk areas of Sevastopol.

The publication indicated that eight explosions or artillery salvos, had been heard in the city. According to its report, the first four sounds were heard at 12:06 local time and four more rang out a few minutes later.

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Another loud explosion was reported in Sevastopol on December 30 at around 8:44 am, Kyiv time. Krym.Realii wrote that windows shook from the explosion in the city's central area.

The Russian-appointed Sevastopol head official, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said this was the repulse of an attempted attack by a surface drone.

“According to information from the military, three kilometers from Sevastopol Bay in the open sea, a sea drone was destroyed by helicopters,” he reported.

The Crimean partisans drew attention to the fact that the sunken “Tarantul” had been stolen by the Russians from Ukraine following the annexation of Crimea in 2014. According to their information, the Russian armed forces had actively used the ship for military purposes.

The Tarantul class patrol boat is a Soviet era vessel that was developed in the mid-1960s with 137 being constructed during 1967-1989 in Leningrad and Vladivostok.