Ukraine’s Bayraktar TB-2 breaks the halt and destroys a Russian boat in the Black Sea

Ukraine’s Bayraktar TB-2 breaks the halt and destroys a Russian boat in the Black Sea

Ukraine’s TB-2 drones were largely absent from the battlefield before reappearing on the surface once again to attack what was believed to be an unmanned surface vessel.

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet lost two small boats believed to be unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) following an airstrike captured on video released by the Ukrainian Navy on June 24, 2026. Defense observers and war trackers believe the Unmanned Combat Aircraft (UCAV) system employed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces Navy is the Bayraktar TB-2.

Turkish-made Medium Altitude Medium Endurance (MAME) class surveillance and strike drones, which Ankara supplied to Kiev before the conflict, continue to appear sporadically after largely disappearing from the battlefield during the first months of the 2022 war. The remotely piloted aircraft were withdrawn from service entirely after a large number were reportedly lost in Russian electronic warfare.

It is likely that the RPA in the new footage is TB-2, having last surfaced in September 2025 after a long hiatus, reappearing in the Black Sea region. At that time, drones attacked Russian boats and troops along the coast.

As with recent events, analysts concluded that this system was TB-2, based on unique interfaces and signatures obtained from video feeds from electro-optical (EO) sensors. The Ukrainian military did not officially reveal which drone was used in both incidents.

What the video shows

Infrared footage shows two boats targeting, with the outlines of two sensor masts or possibly two personnel on one of them, with laser lights also visible on the first. The second boat, which was not hit, also has an outboard motor.

Although not confirmed, both vessels are believed to be USVs. Alternatively, it could be an inflatable boat or speedboat.

But this raises the question of why Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF) commanders would want to conduct highly risky and largely unnecessary manned operations in highly contested waters in the middle of the Black Sea. At the same time, there are few reports of Russia using USVs in the Black Sea.

Ukraine TB2 Russia Boats 1
Screen capture of Ukrainian Navy video showing a Russian ship before it was attacked. (Image source: Ukrainian Navy)

The munition used in this attack may be the laser-guided MAM series of air-to-ground guided bombs developed by Roketsan. Ukrainian media reported that the military previously used the device on the TB-2 in the first months of the war.

The situation in the Black Sea remains largely in Ukraine’s favor, with Russia still at an overall asymmetric disadvantage, using large patrol boats, naval guns, and naval utility helicopters like the Kamov Ka-27 to blow Ukrainian USVs out of the water. Ukraine’s leading Magura V5 and V7 USVs, armed with repurposed air-to-air missiles, also shot down Mi-8 helicopters and Su-30SM fighter jets.

Ukraine TB2 Russia Boats 3
The second boat captured in the TB-2 EO video. (Image source: Ukrainian Navy)

Sometimes Maguras and other American-built USVs keep getting lost and end up beached. The most recent incident involving Magura V3 was reported in May in the Greek coastal region of Lefkada. Ukraine has also deployed a new USV called Barracuda.

Building on lessons learned from the Ukraine experience, the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Surface Vessel Squadron 3 (USVRON-3) has moved to integrate unmanned maritime systems into large-scale multinational exercises and even operationally. In fact, drone boats were used to rescue downed pilots near the Strait of Hormuz.

Previous TB2 Recruitment

A video released by the Ukrainian military on September 3, 2025, shows an attack on a Russian speedboat anchored off the Kherson coast, with at least two injured people being unloaded from the vessel and two others being evacuated. TB2’s footage also shows another soldier being injured in the attack on a small encampment along the coastline.

A few weeks before that, Ukraine released video of another TB2 attack on a small Russian boat, this time near the port of Zaliznyi in the Kherson region. In June 2025, the Ukrainian Navy released video of a TB-2 attack on a Russian landing craft off the west coast of Kherson.

Unconventional attacks using unmanned systems are typically overseen by Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Service (GUR). In the first few months of the war, Ukraine lost at least 26 TB-2s, according to the Oryx open source tracking forum.

united24 We attribute the losses to enhanced Russian electronic warfare measures that prematurely neutralized the TB-2 threat. “Russia is beginning to adapt to the TB2 threat,” the publication said. “Improved electronic warfare and layered air defense systems have made it increasingly difficult for large, slow drones to operate safely. Ukrainian officials have acknowledged that the TB2 has become highly vulnerable to Russian systems such as the Pantsir-S1, Buk and Tor.”

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