Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
Photos of the ship at the link
"Damaged" and "sunk" on the Internet, the reconnaissance ship "Ivan Khurs" came to Sevastopol under its own power, having sunk three marine drones.
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"Ivan Khurs" arrived at the point of permanent deployment in Sevastopol
MOSCOW, May 26 - RIA Novosti. The reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs, which repulsed the attack of Ukrainian naval drones, has arrived in Sevastopol, the Defense Ministry said.
"The crew of the Ivan Khurs air defense missile system of the Black Sea Fleet completed the planned transition from the task area to the Sevastopol permanent deployment point," the ministry's Telegram channel said.
In Sevastopol, the ship will replenish material reserves, after which it will continue to perform tasks.
Since the end of April, Ivan Khurs has ensured the safety of the Turkish Stream and Blue Stream gas pipelines in the exclusive economic zone of Turkey, and also monitored the surface situation in the southwestern part of the Black Sea for shipping as part of a grain deal.
On Wednesday, 140 kilometers northeast of the Bosphorus , the ship was attacked by three Ukrainian unmanned speedboats. The reconnaissance crew destroyed them from standard 14.5 mm machine gun turrets.
"Ivan Khurs" is a Project 18280 medium reconnaissance ship. It is designed to provide communications and fleet control, conduct electronic intelligence, and conduct electronic warfare. It has a displacement of about four thousand tons, a length of about 100 meters. The cruising range is over 8,000 nautical miles. Admitted to the Black Sea Fleet in 2018.
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Drone Boat Attack On Russian Ship In Black Sea Story Keeps Getting Weirder
[The Drive] New video has emerged on socialist media showing what's purported to be another view of the uncrewed surface vessel (USV) attack on the Project 18280 Yuriy Ivanov class intelligence ship Ivan Khurs in the Black Sea Wednesday about 90 miles northeast of Turkey's Bosphorus Strait.
This video - along with one published yesterday showing a USV view of it approaching the Ivan Khurs - indicates a possible hit on the ship contrary to official Russian claims of it being unscathed. However, several videos and images have also emerged on social media claiming to show the vessel sailing into its home port of Sevastopol today with no apparent signs of damage.
"In the conditions of the [special military operation], our telegram channel... never publishes fresh photos of Black Sea Fleet ships. But in light of the ... hysteria, let's make an exception," the Black Sea Fleet Telegram channel said in a post that included several photos it claimed to be of the vessel entering Sevastopol. "The medium reconnaissance ship 'Ivan Khurs' returns to Sevastopol..."
The new grainy video of the USV attack, provided today by "military sources" to the Ukrainian Pravda media outlet, is a view from the starboard side of the Ivan Khurs and appears to show the results of an explosion on the port side. That explosion is followed seconds later by another apparent explosion that appears to be a short distance away from the vessel.
The location of that second apparent explosion could be a view of what the Russian MoD on Wednesday said was one of three attacking USVs being destroyed by the Ivan Khurs’ deck-mounted 14.5mm machine guns.
If this video is real, it appears to lend partial credence to some of the information being provided by both sides in this conflict.
The ship appears to be hit, or at least a blast occurred very close to it, which backs up Ukraine's contention, while at least one of the USVs attacking appears to have been destroyed without getting very near the ship's hull, as Russia has claimed.
Other than a snarky tweet issued yesterday by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, showing the supposed USV view of it attacking the Ivan Khurs released by Ukrainian sources, Kyiv has not officially said anything about this incident.
The Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) on Friday noted the ship's return to Sevastopol under its own power.
