Ukraine has destroyed Vladimir Putin’s special ‘parade boat’, which he uses to inspect his naval fleets, its forces have claimed.
According to the reports, a white-colored Raptor-class patrol vessel was reportedly obliterated by a laser-guided bomb dropped from a Ukraine-operated Bayraktar TB2 drone near Snake Island in the Black Sea.
The Russian leader has used such a boat with the designation 001 for fleet inspections in Sevastopol and St Petersburg.
He also uses the patrol boat to deliver speeches and conduct military parades.
Ukraine’s navy shared drone footage of the alleged strike on their official Facebook channel, although it has not been independently verified.
The suspected sinking of the Russian leader’s patrol boat comes as two other 55-ft-long Raptors were hit in recent days in similar attacks.
Ukraine’s armed forces also destroyed a Serna class landing craft with a Tor surface-to-air missile system onboard suspected of targeting Snake Island, some 80 miles south of Odesa.
“We received information that one of the destroyed boats of the Raptor type in the Snake Island area was Putin’s parade boat.”
The vessel is ‘distinguished by the white colour of its hull’, and the successful strike took place on Sunday, May 8.
The Kremlin leader’s vessel is a ‘specially equipped parade boat with tail number 001,’ said the report.
‘Onboard, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has hosted military parades in St. Petersburg and Sevastopol several times.’Ukraine Now Telegram channel reported.
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