Key Russian Surveillance Ship Appears Crippled After Strike in Crimea

A Russian reconnaissance vessel, the Ivan Khurs, has been spotted in temporarily occupied Sevastopol, showing significant damage following reported strikes, according to the partisan movement Crimean Wind on February 25.

“Scouts photographed the medium reconnaissance ship ‘Ivan Khurs’ of Project 18280 in Sevastopol, moored at a pier in Holland Bay,” the group said in a statement.

According to the report, visible damage includes part of the captain’s bridge being destroyed, structural damage to the ship’s funnel, and a mast—previously carrying antenna systems—now surrounded by construction scaffolding. Equipment normally installed at the stern appears to be missing, while the forward deck has reportedly been covered with camouflage netting.

The Ivan Khurs is a Russian medium reconnaissance ship designed for operations in both maritime and ocean zones. It is the first production vessel of Project 18280 and one of only two ships built under the program.

Commissioned into the Russian Black Sea Fleet in June 2018, the vessel is named after Vice Admiral Ivan Khurs, who headed Soviet naval intelligence from 1979 to 1987. The ship’s primary missions include signals intelligence collection and electronic warfare operations.

Reports of possible damage to the vessel first surfaced in March 2024, when it was believed to have been hit during strikes targeting Russian military assets in Crimea on March 23. The newly released images may represent the clearest indication yet that the ship sustained substantial damage and is undergoing repairs.

The sighting comes as Ukrainian strikes increasingly target Russian naval and military infrastructure across occupied Crimea, gradually eroding the operational freedom of the Black Sea Fleet.

Earlier, for the first time, a Russian military court officially acknowledged that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were responsible for the destruction of the Moskva cruiser—a major milestone in establishing accountability for one of the most high-profile naval losses of the war.

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