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The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.

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Ukraine destroys another Russian patrol boat in occupied Crimea, military intelligence says

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Ukraine destroys another Russian patrol boat in occupied Crimea, military intelligence says
Illustrative purposes only: A Ukrainian serviceman of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry (HUR) controls a Magura naval drone during a demonstration for journalists at an undisclosed location in Ukraine on April 11, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images)

A Magura naval drone operated by Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) destroyed a Russian KS-701 Tunets (Tuna) patrol boat and damaged three more Russian watercraft in occupied Crimea, HUR reported on Aug. 10.

The attack took place overnight on Aug. 8-9 near the village of Chornomorske on the north-western coast of Crimea, according to HUR.

The type of the three damaged watercraft is still being established, the agency said in its post on social media.

This is not the first successful Ukrainian attack on Russian high-speed Tunets boats used for patrolling and logistics. HUR said it had destroyed two Tunets patrol boats and damaged another two near the Crimean coast in May.

The Magura V5 is a multi-purpose naval drone developed by Ukraine and has been extensively used in attacks against the Russian Black Sea fleet, mainly by ramming into enemy vessels while loaded with explosives.

Newer versions of the Magura V5 are equipped with air-to-air guided missiles.

According to HUR, Ukraine hit a total of 18 Russian vessels with Magura drones, destroying nine, including a landing ship Caesar Kunikov, a Sergei Kotov patrol ship, high-speed Serna and Akula landing crafts, and a Tarantul-class Ivanovets missile corvette.

Ukrainian newest naval drone Stalker presented in Odesa
The Stalker 5.0 drone can reportedly accelerate up to 75 km/h and has a cruise speed of 55 km/h. It has an estimated price tag of around 60,000 euros ($64,000).