Ukrainian naval drones struck two Russian vessels guarding the Kerch Bridge in the Kerch Strait overnight on April 30, hitting an FSB patrol boat and an anti-sabotage craft built specifically to counter that threat.
The Ukrainian Navy confirmed the strike in a Telegram statement, saying its forces “inflicted damage on the Russian naval fleet in the Kerch Strait area.” The vessels hit were the Project 12200 Sobol, a fast coastal patrol craft operated by the Federal Security Service (FSB) Border Service, and the Project 21980 Grachonok, an anti-sabotage boat belonging to the Russian Navy. Russian crews sustained killed and wounded personnel, the Navy stated.
Night operation success: Ukraine’s Navy hit Russian vessels in the Kerch Strait.
“Sobol” and “Grachonok” — key assets protecting the Kerch Bridge — were struck, enemy losses reported.
Systematic pressure on Russia’s Black Sea presence continues. pic.twitter.com/qszwIFXhVP— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 30, 2026
The Grachonok’s destruction carries particular tactical weight. The 139-ton vessel is equipped with the Anapa hydroacoustic station, bottom-scanning sonar, and DP-65A and DP-64 anti-diver grenade launchers, systems designed to detect and neutralize unmanned surface vessel (USV) attacks and combat divers. Its loss to a USV strike in the waters it was assigned to protect signals a direct failure of Russia’s layered Kerch Bridge security screen.
The Ukrainian Navy identified both boats as “key units” of Russia’s Kerch Bridge security architecture, used to guard the crossing and conduct counter-sabotage operations.
Video posted by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense appears to show the strike from a drone’s perspective. SOFX could not independently verify the footage’s time or location.
The Kerch Bridge, built by Russia following its 2014 annexation of Crimea, serves as Moscow’s primary land logistics route into the peninsula. Ukraine struck the structure in October 2022 and July 2023 and has since consistently targeted the patrol assets and systems protecting it.
On April 29, Ukrainian naval drones struck the sanctioned Cameroon-flagged tanker Marquise roughly 210 kilometers from the Russian port of Tuapse, Ukraine’s General Staff reported.
