Ukraine strikes Russian naval drone in Black Sea

Ukraine’s Navy said it destroyed a Russian uncrewed surface vessel near Snake Island in the Black Sea on Tuesday, according to Militarnyi.

Footage released alongside the announcement shows the drone boat being struck by a precision munition dropped from an unmanned aerial vehicle after being detected. The vessel caught fire and detonated following the strike. Based on the released footage, Ukraine appears to have used a Bayraktar TB2 drone, a Turkish-made system Ukraine has operated since before the full-scale invasion, to carry out the attack.

Ukraine’s Navy said the destroyed vessel was likely a KAMA-class uncrewed boat built by Russian drone maker ZALA, the same company behind the Lancet loitering munition widely used against Ukrainian forces and equipment.

ZALA first unveiled the KAMA publicly in June 2026 at the International Maritime Defense Show “FLOT-2026” in Kronstadt, near St. Petersburg. The company presented two versions of the platform, one with a waterjet propulsion system and one with an outboard motor, both intended for what ZALA described as civilian and dual-use missions, including hydrographic surveys, environmental monitoring, search-and-rescue operations, port and oil platform security, and cargo delivery to islands.

According to specifications ZALA released at the unveiling, the KAMA has a maximum range of 700 kilometers (435 miles) from shore and can carry a payload of up to 600 kilograms (1,323 pounds), allowing for a range of onboard equipment including electro-optical sensors and thermal imaging cameras. The jet-propelled version measures 6.5 meters (21 feet) long and weighs about 1,000 kilograms (2,205 pounds) with a fiberglass hull, while the outboard motor version is slightly larger at 7.9 meters (26 feet) and roughly 1,200 kilograms (2,646 pounds). Both versions reach a maximum speed of around 30 knots and can operate in sea states up to three, according to the manufacturer, navigating using satellite positioning, an inertial navigation system, and marine radar.

Defense analysts who examined the KAMA at its unveiling noted that despite ZALA’s framing of the platform around civilian applications, the design closely resembles other Russian uncrewed surface vessels already documented in offensive roles, including a camera-equipped variant used in a May 2026 attack on Odesa. No dedicated attack or “kamikaze” configuration of the KAMA had been publicly announced by ZALA prior to Tuesday’s strike, though analysts had previously said such an adaptation could not be ruled out given the platform’s modular payload capacity.

Snake Island, a small outpost in the northwestern Black Sea near the mouth of the Danube, has remained a recurring flashpoint throughout the war given its strategic position along shipping lanes used for Ukrainian grain exports. Ukrainian forces have conducted repeated strikes on Russian naval assets and reconnaissance platforms operating in the surrounding waters since retaking the island from Russian forces in 2022.