On Thursday, May 7, 2026, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on social media that it had attacked several important Russian targets, both on Russian territory and in the occupied territory of Ukraine.
Photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The Armed Forces of Ukraine reportedly attacked one of Russia’s Project 22800 Karakurt small missile ships with long-range FP-1 strike drones, which have a range of 1,600 km, at the Kaspiysk naval port in the Republic of Dagestan, on the coast of the Caspian Sea. The extent of the vessel’s damage is currently being assessed. The attached photograph shows that the drone struck the ship’s superstructure near the captain’s bridge.
In addition, an enemy command post in Sosnivka, in the occupied Luhansk region, and an unmanned aerial vehicle command post near Yasne, in the Donetsk region, were also hit. An ammunition depot in Kalmykivka and a fuel and lubricants depot in the Smolyaninove area of the Luhansk region were also struck. Ukrainian soldiers also attacked concentrations of Russian forces near Dersove in the Donetsk region and Smile in the Zaporizhzhia region.
It is worth noting that during the overnight Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory, two unmanned aerial vehicles reportedly violated Latvian airspace.
Project 22800 Karakurt small missile ships
Reference photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
It should be noted that on May 3 of this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had attacked a total of three Russian tankers from the so-called Shadow Fleet and two surface ships of the Black Sea Fleet in two operations in Novorossiysk and Primorsk. Among them was one Project 22800 Karakurt small missile ship.
It is not known exactly which vessels were targeted in either Sunday’s attacks or today’s strike, but on May 18, 2024, the sister ship RFS Tsiklon (801) was sunk, while RFS Askold (802) had previously been heavily damaged on November 3, 2023. In addition, for security reasons, the Tucha (804) and Tayfun (805) vessels were redeployed to the Caspian Sea. The Black Sea Fleet is also expected to receive RFS Okhotsk (255) and Vikhr (256) in the future.
In summary, Sunday’s strike may have hit Askold again, while today’s target may have been Tucha or Tayfun.
The Karakurt-class ships are 60.7 m long, 11 m wide, have a draft of 4 m, a standard displacement of 800 metric tons, and a full displacement of 870 metric tons. They are powered by three Zvezda M507D-1 diesel engines or, alternatively, one 6D49 16D500 12V ZE1600KZ engine with DGAS-315 generators. They can reach a maximum speed of up to 30 knots and have a range of 2,500 nautical miles. Their endurance is 15 days, and the crew consists of 39 officers and sailors, although a maximum of 50–70 people can be embarked.
The main armament of Project 22800 Karakurt small missile ships is an eight-cell 3S-14 universal vertical launch system of the UKSK system for Kalibr-NK cruise missiles, although they can alternatively use P-800 Oniks missiles. In addition, they are equipped with a single 76.2 mm AK-176MA naval gun, two 12.7 mm Kord machine guns, two twin 30 mm AK-630M guns, eight Igla-S man-portable air-defense systems, and two Pantsir-ME gun-missile air-defense systems.
⚡️У районі пункту базування “Каспийск” (Каспійськ, Республіка Дагестан, рф) уражено багатоцільовий малий ракетний корабель проекту 22800 “Каракурт”, який, зокрема, має можливості для запуску крилатих ракет "Калібр".https://t.co/g9MsBPUixm pic.twitter.com/RpYumaAPtd
— Генеральний штаб ЗСУ (@GeneralStaffUA) May 7, 2026
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