Moment lethal laser-guided Ukrainian strike wipes out Russian patrol boat in Black Sea

By Ciaran McGrath, Senior News Reporter

Russian boat destroyed by Ukraine missile strike in Black Sea

This is the dramatic moment a Russian patrol boat was obliterated in the Black Sea after a Ukrainian missile, laser-guided by a drone, struck near the occupied town of Zaliznyi Port in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine’s defence intelligence agency (HUR) has claimed. Tuesday's strike was carried out with an air-launched missile directed onto its target by a drone-mounted laser designator.

A post on Telegram shared footage of the explosion, adding that "the high-precision destructive strike with a missile on an enemy target in the Black Sea was made possible thanks to laser illumination from a drone, which also recorded the successful destruction of the military boat with the Russians". The agency described the patrol boat as belonging to the "Russian occupiers" and said its elimination underscored that "the armed struggle for Ukraine continues." All five crew members were killed, HUR claimed.

The destruction of the boat underlines Vladimir Putin's problems in the Black Sea (Image: GETTY)

Zaliznyi Port, once a thriving resort town, has been under Russian control since 2022. Situated about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Kherson city, it now functions as a launch point for Russian coastal operations in southern Ukraine.

This latest destruction is part of a string of humiliations suffered by Russia’s Black Sea Fleet since the start of the full-scale invasion.

The most famous came in April 2022, when Ukrainian Neptune missiles sank the Moskva, the fleet’s flagship. That loss shattered Moscow’s aura of naval dominance and forced its warships to retreat from Ukraine’s western coastline.

Since then, Ukraine has steadily pressed its advantage using an eclectic mix of technology and tactics: Western-supplied missiles, explosive sea drones, and high-risk special forces raids.

In late July, Ukrainian operatives struck Russian equipment and personnel on the Tendra Spit, a narrow strip of land off the Kherson coast.

Each strike has pushed Russia’s fleet eastward, restricting its operations and undermining its ability to threaten Ukraine’s shores.

Analysts note that this erosion of Russian naval power has been vital to Ukraine’s ability to resume limited grain exports from Black Sea ports, even after Moscow pulled out of the UN-brokered grain deal in 2023.

The use of laser targeting in the Zaliznyi Port strike marks another step forward in Ukraine’s precision strike capabilities.

Kyiv had previously signalled that it was integrating laser technology into combat operations, but this is one of the first confirmed uses in a major naval engagement.