On Sunday, May 3, 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in cooperation with other services, had successfully attacked a total of three Russian tankers from the so-called Shadow Fleet and two surface warships of the Black Sea Fleet in two operations in Novorossiysk and Primorsk.
Наші воїни продовжують застосування санкцій проти російського тіньового нафтового флоту – уразили два таких судна в акваторії входу в порт Новоросійськ. Ці танкери активно застосовувалися для перевезення нафти. Тепер не будуть. Дякую начальнику Генштабу Андрію Гнатову за…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 3, 2026
“Our warriors continue to enforce sanctions against Russia’s shadow oil fleet – they struck two such vessels in the waters at the entrance to the port of Novorossiysk. These tankers were actively used to transport oil. Now they will not be. I thank Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov for leading the operation, the counterintelligence officers of the Security Service of Ukraine, and our Ukrainian Navy for consistently useful results. Ukraine’s long-range capabilities will be developed comprehensively 2 at sea, in the air, and on land,” – Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media.
The published video footage from the electro-optical head of one of the kamikaze unmanned surface vessels – the type was not specified, but it may have been a Sea Baby or Magura V5 – shows an approach to one of the tankers from the stern, up to the moment when the video feed is lost at detonation.
The details of the attack are not known: which tankers were attacked and to what extent they were damaged. However, striking the stern may result in loss of propulsion, as in the case of the Marquise tanker/chemical tanker attacked on April 29.
Мінус ще один російський носій «калібрів». Генерал-майор Євгеній Хмара доповів про успішне ураження обʼєктів порту Приморськ. Спільна операція нашої Служби безпеки України, Сил безпілотних систем, ССО, ГУР та прикордонників. Дякую всім вам, воїни, за скоординовану роботу!…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 3, 2026
“Minus one more Russian Kalibr carrier. Major General Yevhenii Khmara reported the successful strike on facilities at the port of Primorsk. It was a joint operation by our Security Service of Ukraine, Unmanned Systems Forces, Special Operations Forces, Main Intelligence Directorate, and border guards. Thank you all, warriors, for your coordinated work! A Karakurt-class missile ship was hit, as well as a patrol boat and another tanker of the shadow oil fleet. Significant damage was also inflicted on the infrastructure of the oil-loading port. Every such result limits Russia’s war potential. I have also approved additional, entirely justified responses by the Security Service of Ukraine to Russian strikes on our cities and villages. Russia can end this war of its own at any moment. Prolonging the war will only lead to the scaling up of our defensive operations. Thank you to everyone fighting for Ukraine!”
This time, one of the Project 22800 Karakurt small missile ships was mentioned. It is not known which vessel was involved, but on May 18, 2024, its sister ship RFS Tsiklon (801) was sunk, while earlier, on November 3, 2023, RFS Askold (802) was heavily damaged. In addition, for security reasons, Tucha (804) and Tayfun (805) 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, the vessel hit may again have been Askold.
The Karakurt-class ships are 60.7 m long and 11 m wide, with a draft of 4 m, a standard displacement of 800 metric tons, and a full displacement of 870 metric tons. Propulsion is provided 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. Endurance is 15 days, and the crew consists of 39 officers and sailors, although a maximum of 50–70 personnel can be embarked.
The main armament of Project 22800 Karakurt ships is an eight-cell 3S-14 universal vertical launcher of the UKSK system for Kalibr-NK cruise missiles; alternatively, they can 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.
In addition, the Ukrainian president mentioned an attack on a third tanker and a patrol boat. Again, the details are not known.
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