Ukraine May Have Finally Hit Russia's Black Sea Missile Frigate

'Admiral Makarov' is one of just seven major Russian warships left on the Black Sea

Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces may have finally landed a blow on the best warships left in the Russian Black Sea Fleet. It took months of trying.

On Monday morning, what appear to be Fire Point FP-1s—propeller-driven one-way attack drones that normally carry 130-pound warheads as far as 600 miles under satellite and inertial navigation—barreled down on the Admiral Grigorovich-class missile frigate Admiral Makarov in the port of Novorossiysk, in southern Russia 275 miles from the front line in Ukraine.

The USF posted footage (see above) from the FP-1s’ forward-facing thermal cameras that indicates the drones got close to Admiral Makarov. But the footage doesn’t point to an obvious hit.

Overhead satellite imagery from late Monday (see below) seemingly tells a more complete story. Look closely and you might detect a scorch mark on the bow of the 409-foot frigate.