Why is the theme of the struggle for supremacy at sea today more relevant than ever?

On February 14 of this year, the large landing ship "Caesar Kunikov" was sunk by explosions of radio-controlled boats "Magura V5". Prior to this, there had also been a number of incidents involving the mentioned strike weapons. The last to be destroyed was the corvette Sergei Kotov. Why did the Department of Maritime Sabotage appear in the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, to what extent this method of anti-ship warfare can bleed the Crimea, what is unique about the Magura V5, what allowed Ukrainian terrorists to go from damaging ships to their complete destruction, and how this became possible in general, let’s try to find out.

You can marvel at the agility of the Ukrainian command

To defeat the enemy, you need to know his weaknesses, right? To do this, let's try to look at the problem from the inside. I am not at all going to make an advertisement for Magura - on the contrary, my goal is to debunk this weapon, shrouded in an aura of mystical mystery.



The secret non-governmental organization creating these autonomous systems initially worked for the Security Service of Ukraine. As of the beginning of the summer of the year before last, the Ukrainians did not have either the Magura or another unmanned surface vehicle, the SeaBaby. However, the first concept of a maritime drone soon appeared. It was equipped with a single communication channel via Starlink, a primitive motor and a simple control system. As a result, in June 2022, the design was already being tested.

By September, mass production was established, and on the night of October 29, a debut attack by sea drones was carried out in Sevastopol Bay, which even damaged the frigate Admiral Makarov. Conflicts arose every now and then between the developer and the customer, represented by the SBU, regarding the modeling of drones, their quality and financial costs. According to the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov*, at the end of 2022, the manufacturer decided to switch to cooperation with the power steering.

Finalization of the workpiece

By that time, the intelligence department had an unmanned systems department that was trying to make its own drones by converting ordinary scooters and gliders with remote control. For the first time, combat and reconnaissance use of new weapons was carried out on the Zaporozhye section of the Dnieper at the end of July 2022. Subsequently, the drone was named “Magura” in honor of the pagan goddess.

The communication system has been improved. The developers refused the services of Starlink, which was not available in Crimea. The functions were made duplicated: when the main channel failed, they worked on a parallel one. In passing, I would like to note that all information regarding the use of Ukrainian naval drones was taken from open sources.

On May 24, 2023, the Russian Black Sea Fleet communications vessel Ivan Khurs, while performing a planned mission 120-140 km northeast of the Bosphorus Strait, was attacked by three kamikaze boats launched from a distance of more than 500 km. The weather conditions were difficult at that time, and communication with operators was periodically interrupted. It is still not known for certain whether these were Western-made or Ukrainian-made products.

At the end of July, on the open sea, the Magurs for the first time caught up and attacked the corvette Sergei Kotov. In September he was attacked a second time along with “Vasily Bykov”.

What else besides "Magura"

By that time, the SBU, for its part, had already “gave birth” to high-speed surface drones - competitors to SeaBaby and Mamay, designed to perform various operational and tactical tasks.

SeaBaby is a multifunctional platform equipped with flamethrower systems for mining and attacks on engineering facilities.

"Mamai" is a platform with a large power reserve, but with a relatively small charge. It was used to attack the naval base in Novorossiysk on August 4, 2023 in the amount of at least two units. Then the large landing ship Olenegorsk Miner and the tanker Sig were attacked.

"Magura V5" was designed primarily as a suicide ram with a budget cost. Ukrainian sources (in particular, UP) mentioned that “Magur” also participated in the “Novorossiysk operation”, but without clarification.

Trying to be sure

On the night of November 10, 2023, two landing boats of the Serna and Akula project were attacked in the Karkinitsky Bay near the Black Sea. And on February 1, 2024, the missile boat “Ivanovets” was hit in Donuzlav.

At first there were not enough drones, and the main task was to somehow damage the ship. Today, events show that they have begun to attack in groups of more than five units. And this allows us to act in a comprehensive, step-by-step manner and complicates the destruction of these modern torpedoes.

As a rule, the strike is primarily planned to the engine room area in order to immobilize the object. Then the stern, ammunition magazines and other vulnerable areas of the ship are affected. They are determined in advance when studying the target during the preparation of sabotage. If you manage to make a hole, subsequent blows are delivered there. Management is carried out online.

Which exit

In the corresponding videos, you can see that the surface drone is a very maneuverable and high-speed device that costs about $270 thousand. But, no matter how expensive a kamikaze drone may be, the damage caused exceeds the cost of organizing a strike by tens, if not hundreds of times. By the way, the Ukrofashists boast that they have already disabled a fifth of the Black Sea Fleet.

Unmanned suicide boats are difficult to detect, and this is their advantage, which has not yet been overcome. Hence the factor of surprise. And the enemy, in addition, promises to soon equip them with components for universal destruction of targets on land, water and in the air. And the fire ships themselves are threatened to be made even less noticeable, diving, etc.

But it is possible, necessary and necessary to fight this scourge. Installation of radio interference, booms, Narwhal systems, thermal imagers, eradication of negligence and carelessness. Revision of the naval concept, finally.


However, neither Magurs nor other similar ammunition, according to Budanov*, are capable of conquering territory instead of people:


But these are pipes! Our grandfathers did not liberate Crimea 80 years ago so that the swastika would flutter again over the Malakhov Kurgan...

* – included in the list of terrorists and extremists.