Russian bomber pilots hit a grain ship in the Black Sea by mistake as they “targeted it in haste” and wanted to fly away quickly to avoid Ukrainian air defences, say British defence chiefs.
The Ministry of Defence in London believes that the merchant vessel Aya may only have escaped catastrophic damage because of a “detonation failure” in the “aging munition” fired at it.
In its latest intelligence update, the MoD said: “On 11 September 2024, the merchant vessel Aya was struck by a missile in the Black Sea as it transited south from the Ukrainian port of Odesa having been loaded with more than 26 thousand tons of grain bound for Egypt.
“It is almost certain that the missile was an AS-4 KITCHEN anti-ship missile launched by a Tu-22M3 BACKFIRE Russian bomber that was operating in the area at the time. It is a realistic possibility that a detonation failure avoided catastrophic damage.”
Russian and Ukrainian forces have fought a series of battles along the Black Sea coastline, and out at sea, including over Snake Island, which was captured by Vladimir Putin’s forces before being seized back, and the sinking of the flagship Moskva warship.
The Russian navy was forced to retreat from the Black Sea after the port of Sevastopol in Crimea was targeted.
But the British military chiefs do not believe that the grain vessel was hit on purpose and instead that it was “likely struck due to poor targeting procedures from Russian pilots using an aging munition”.
They added: “Following the loss of a BACKFIRE in April this year, Russia has almost certainly been more wary with their strike operations in the Black Sea.
“It is a realistic possibility this incident occurred due to pilots incorrectly identifying Aya as their target in haste, wanting to depart the area immediately after launch for fear of being targeted by a Ukrainian surface to air missile.
“The KITCHEN missile has consistently underperformed in the Ukraine conflict. Launching a supersonic cruise missile on an incorrect heading against a likely erroneous target in international waters demonstrates extremely poor and irresponsible aviation practice.”
Britain, the US, Ukraine and its allies have been fighting an information war, alongside the battlefield conflict, against Russia so their briefings need to be treated with caution.
However, they are far more believable than the propaganda issued by the Kremlin.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's armed forces commander General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Thursday he had ordered defences to be strengthened in the eastern Donetsk region, a day after Kyiv forces announced they had withdrawn from the town of Vuhledar.
Russian troops are steadily inching forward in different sectors in eastern Ukraine despite Kyiv's surprise incursion into Russia's western Kursk region in August that it was hoped would slow the advances.
Syrskyi said on social media he was working on "one of the hottest front sectors" with the 25th Sicheslav Airborne Brigade.
He gave no details on the exact location but the brigade operates in the Pokrovsk front, an area of intensified Russian assaults.
"While working in the brigade, I made a number of decisions aimed at strengthening stability and effectiveness of our defence," Syrskyi said.
Russian forces launched a major drone attack overnight on 15 Ukrainian regions, causing damage to commercial and residential buildings, local authorities said on Thursday, though there were no immediate reports of any casualties.
The Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 78 out of 105 Russian drones during the assault, with 23 more likely impacted by active electronic jamming.
Authorities in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv said the air force had downed around 15 drones over the city and its surroundings during an air alert that lasted more than five hours.
A Russian drone targeted a truck delivering gas in Ukraine's northern Chernihiv region on Thursday, killing two adults and a child, police said.
Ukrainian drones attacked the "Borisoglebsk" military airfield and warehouses for fuel and guided bombs in Russia's Voronezh region overnight, according to a Ukrainian security source.
The security source said Ukraine's SBU security service was continuing actions to reduce the ability of Russian troops to use fighter jets with guided bombs to strike Ukrainian cities, and that attacks on Russian airfields would continue.
The drones attacked warehouses, parking lots for Russian Sukhoi Su-35 and Su-34 jets and aviation fuel storage facilities at the Borisoglebsk airfield, the source said.
"From there, the enemy actively bombards Ukrainian territories with guided bombs," he said.
Pictures on the attack and a short video clip showing fires could not be independently verified and the extent of the damage was not immediately clear.
Alexander Gusev, the governor of Russia's Voronezh region, said Russian air defence had shot down 10 drones over the region. He did not report any damage.
