British military intelligence confirmed Tuesday that Ukrainian forces sunk a Russian vessel near the Ukraine coast using newly supplied Western anti-ship missiles – a significant development in Kyiv’s ability to begin offsetting Moscow’s exponential military advantages.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry first reported on Friday that it had destroyed the Russian tug boat Spasatel Vasily Bekh as it attempted to deliver weapons and troops to Snake Island, the strategic Ukrainian territory 80 miles south of the consequential port of Odessa that Russia has attempted to militarize. Those reports could not be immediately confirmed.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense’s latest assessment affirms the target of the attack was “almost certainly” that tug boat and that Ukraine forces carried out the strike for the first time using Western-supplied anti-ship Harpoon missiles.
The sinking represents the latest high-profile attack on Russia’s powerful sea forces, following reports that Ukraine’s forces destroyed another ship near the island in May shortly after a missile strike in April that targeted and sunk the Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet at that time. Russian President Vladimir Putin relieved some of his top admirals following the Moskva’s sinking and other embarrassing battlefield failures.
Russian state news has made no immediate mention of the latest attack or the British assertions. On June 12, it noted the tugboat received its name from a search and rescue specialist with extensive experience saving Russian naval assets in peril who died in January 2021.
The U.K. ministry on Tuesday said the attack “demonstrates the difficulty Russia faces when attempting to support their forces occupying Snake Island” and that Ukraine’s effectiveness in defending its coast “has largely neutralized Russia’s ability to establish sea control and project maritime force in the north-western Black Sea.” The ministry said that Ukraine has undermined Russia’s invasion strategy, which involved threatening Odessa from the sea.
Russia’s blockade of Odessa has strangled Ukraine’s ability to export global supplies of grain and other goods, forcing an international crisis.
Two new Harpoon coastal defense systems were among the equipment the U.S. pledged in a new $1 billion military aid package that President Joe Biden announced on Thursday. The Pentagon has previously stated weapons shipments take several weeks to arrive at Ukraine’s front lines.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy first requested the missiles from Western partners in March, weeks after Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24. Reports emerged in mid-May that the White House was seriously considering the request, and Denmark – a NATO ally – confirmed shortly afterward it would send Harpoons to Ukraine.
Analysts considered the Danish shipment to be a gamechanger at the time.
Biden has faced criticism in recent days for providing Ukraine with only enough to deter the Russians and not enough for an outright battlefield win. The administration has stated it remains intent on supporting Ukraine while not provoking Russia into a wider war in Europe.
