The Ukrainian Navy reported that it struck an elite Russian special forces unit located on the Sivash drilling rig in the Black Sea.

“In addition to destroying Russian reconnaissance and surveillance equipment, an enemy anti-tank missile crew was eliminated,” the Navy’s statement said.

According to the report, Russian propagandists are attempting to portray the incident as a victory by sharing a video claiming to show a Ukrainian Navy boat being hit by a Lancet drone.

In reality, the Ukrainian forces successfully deployed a suicide drone in the strike.

The Navy released drone footage of the operation as confirmation, though Kyiv Post was unable to independently verify the time or location of the video.

“Boyko’s Towers” are gas and oil platforms in the Black Sea – including the Sivash rig.

During Russia’s 2014 occupation of Crimea, the platforms were seized by Moscow.

In 2022, Russia installed electronic intelligence systems, combat equipment, and hydroacoustic systems on the rigs, using them to monitor the surface, air, and underwater space between Crimea and Odesa.

Since then, Ukrainian Defense Forces have carried out several special operations in the area. Although Ukraine regained control of these strategic platforms in 2023, Russia continues to attempt to recapture them.

The Sivash rig displaces 10,870 tons, measures 79.6 meters long and 47.7 meters wide, and can house up to 60 personnel. It can store up to 2,340 tons of supplies and generate up to 4 MW of power. The platform also has a helipad capable of supporting aircraft weighing up to 12.8 tons.

In the vicinity of the rigs, a Russian naval detachment known as Espanyola, formed in 2024, opposing Ukrainian forces.

Espanyola is not formally part of the Russian Defense Ministry but reportedly cooperates with it. The unit is believed to have been created under the auspices of Crimea’s Moscow-installed head, Sergei Aksyonov, to bolster coastal defense.

Originally a land-based unit linked to Russian private military companies, intelligence agencies, and businessmen close to President Vladimir Putin, Espanyola is reportedly financed by the ruling United Russia party.

According to Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), it recruits football “ultras,” radicals, and civilians from impoverished Russian regions who are used as “cannon fodder” in assault operations.

Separately, early on Sunday, Nov. 2, HUR fighters destroyed several Russian air defense facilities in occupied Crimea.

“The specialists of the HUR’s Active Operations Department struck another expensive asset of the muscovites’ air defense system in temporarily occupied Crimea,” the agency said in a statement accompanying video footage of strikes, which Kyiv Post was unable to independently verify.

According to the report, the strikes destroyed a control point of a Russian S-400 Triumph air defense division, along with a 92N6E multifunctional radar and equipment from the autonomous power system of the S-400 command post.

HUR also reported destroying an AORL-1AS airfield surveillance radar and a P-18 Terek radar.

The S-400 Triumph air defense system, which replaced the Soviet-designed S-300 in the Russian arsenal, is a modernized version with enhanced combat capabilities.

After its introduction, Moscow began actively promoting the S-400 for export.

“Russian propaganda at all levels has portrayed this air defense system as one of the most powerful in the world,” the Militarniy publication said.

According to the manufacturer, the S-400 is designed to destroy strategic and tactical aircraft, ballistic and cruise missiles, and other aerial targets even under conditions of electronic warfare and countermeasures.

In its basic configuration, the system retains much of the S-300’s architecture, including a multifunctional early warning radar, separate launchers, and autonomous detection and target-designation radars.