New Video Reveals Ukraine’s Secret October Drone Strike on Russia’s Grad Missile Warship

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces used multiple drones to destroy the Russian small missile ship Grad, a Project 21631 Buyan-M vessel capable of launching Kalibr cruise missiles, according to newly released footage from the unit on May 27.

The operation took place on October 4, 2025, but the video of the strike has only now been made public. The footage reportedly shows Russian sailors jumping into the water from the burning ship during the attack.

The strike occurred at 4:31 am in the waters of Lake Onega, located in Russia’s Republic of Karelia. At the time, the vessel was reportedly moving from the Baltic Sea toward the Caspian Sea, likely to reinforce Russia’s naval grouping in the southern region.

Its route ran through Russia’s internal waterways, a corridor typically used to move smaller missile ships between fleets.

The Grad was one of the newest Buyan-M-class ships in Russian service. It was commissioned into Russia’s Baltic Fleet on December 29, 2022.

Project 21631 Buyan-M vessels are compact “river-sea” missile corvettes designed for shallow waters, inland waterways, and coastal zones. Despite their relatively small size, they carry serious strike capability.

The ship’s main weapon is the UKSK 3S14 vertical launch system with eight cells for Kalibr cruise missiles or Oniks anti-ship missiles. It is also equipped with a 100mm A-190 naval gun, short-range air-defense systems, a 30mm AK-630M-2 Duet close-in weapon system, and machine-gun mounts.

The vessel has a full displacement of around 949 tons, a length of 74.1 meters, a beam of 11 meters, and a draft of 2.6 meters. It can reach speeds of up to 25 knots and has an operational range of about 2,500 nautical miles at economical speed.

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War in Ukraine

Ukraine’s Magura Sea Drone, the Last Thing a Russian Warship Wants to See

Oct 17, 2025 14:06

Russia has used Buyan-M ships to launch Kalibr cruise missiles in Syria and during the full-scale war against Ukraine.

If counting only confirmed strikes against Project 21631 Buyan-M ships, Ukraine has now hit at least three vessels of this class.

Earlier, Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces struck the Russian frigate Admiral Essen at Novorossiysk overnight on May 23, the fourth reported Ukrainian drone attack on the warship since early March.

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