Unprecedented attack of Russia in the Danube Delta, on the border with Romania. Pictures of the first action of its kind success from Moscow from the beginning of the war
Russia has achieved the first attack with a naval drone on a Ukrainian ship on the Danube, confirmed several official sources and the Ukrainian media, quoted by Kyiv Post and the platform affiliated with the United24 government. Sources from the MApN said for Hotnews that the attack near the Romanian border took place on the Chilia arm near the Ukrainian locality Valcov, and the naval drone entered the Chilia arm most likely through one of the many channels in the area.
A Russian naval drone hit the Ukrainian ship of recognition Simferopol near the mouths of the Danube, confirmed Kiev officials on Thursday, and on Friday, they announced that at least two people had died, according to Kyiv Post.
Several sailors are missing or injured, and the search and rescue operation is underway.
Russia was the one who initially announced on Thursday that the ship was destroyed and sank.
Kiev avoided confirming this. Asked about diving, the spokesman of the Ukrainian Navy, Captain Dmitro Pletenciuk. He said he “cannot confirm this information.”
It all happened on the Danube, on the border with Romania, and at least a Russian recognition drone seems to have filmed the attack.
Sources from the MApN said for Hotnews that the attack took place on the Chilia arm near the Ukrainian town of Valcov, and the naval drone did not go through the Romanian territorial waters, but entered the Chilia arm most likely through one of the many channels in the area that connect with the Black Sea.
Such a channel is the Bâstroe channel, a fairly wide river way for large, commercial traffic, to reach the Black Sea. Beyond this, in the area there are numerous secondary, smaller channels, which they also give in the Black Sea.
The geolocalized images published on August 28 indicate that the Russian forces hit the ship while it was about 25 kilometers from the mouths, east of Izmail, the Odessa region, also observed the Institute for the Study of the War, a watch-tank based in Washington.
The images of the attack
On the social networks there were two videos showing the moment of the attack. One shows the image from the perspective of the drone while approaching Simferopol, and the other was filmed by a surveillance drone flying over the area.
And Here's Footage from the Russian Unemanned Surface vehicle (USV) that struct of the Ukrainian Reconnaissance Ship “Simferopol” Last Night. https://t.co/ib3i7ubnjf pic.twitter.com/4srad3o48u
-Status-6 (military & conflict news) (@archer83able) August 28, 2025
A Kremlin affiliated military blogger said that the destruction of the Simferopol ship was successful after the longest attack that Russian forces performed against a target on the Danube.
The Ukrainian platform United24, affiliated with the Kiev government, stressed the uniqueness of the attack, in an article with the title “The first attack with Russian naval drones hit a Ukrainian ship stationed in the Danube Delta.”
While he published a clip with the attack, Russia did not provide details about the type of naval drone used, the place of launch or its capabilities.
The drone, speculates The War Zone, could have been launched from the busy Crimea or from a larger navy ship.
While this blow was a different one, Russia frequently launched attacks on Ukrainian ports in the Danube area.
Simferopol ship
The destroyed ship, Simferopol, was a vessel to recognize the Ukrainian navy in the Lagoon class. It was launched in 2019 and officially joined the fleet two years later.
The ship was designed for radio, electronic, radar and optical recognition and was armed with an AK-306 30 mm artillery system.
While Ukraine has caused heavy loss of the Russian Black Sea fleet, the information on Ukrainian naval losses was extremely rare.
During the large -scale war, however, Russia targeted several civil ships in the Black Sea, including foreign ships.
