A separate brigade has been formed within the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to use maritime drones.
During the celebrations on the occasion of Independence Day of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky, on August 24, presented state awards, awards to military units and battle flags with ribbons with honorary names on Sofiyskaya Square.
In particular, the 385th separate brigade of special-purpose maritime unmanned systems of the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces also received the battle flag. Previously, the existence of such a unit within the Ukrainian military fleet was not publicly reported. Thus, for the first time in history, the Ukrainian Navy has formed a separate brigade for the use of maritime drones (unmanned vessels).
Probably, it is this unit that attacks Russian military installations in occupied Crimea and ships of the enemy fleet in the Black Sea with uncrewed naval boats. However, for obvious reasons, the activities of the 385th separate naval drone brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are not publicly reported.
According to the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, sea drones are an effective weapon. Even if 70% of Russians are destroyed, 30% achieve their goal. There are cases when a drone is destroyed next to a Russian ship, after which the equipment goes “for long-term repairs.”
Ukraine has already mastered the serial production of such unmanned boats. However, the exact number of naval drones that Ukraine is currently using in the fight against the Russian aggressor is not known.
