Russia-Ukraine War — 2026-04-20

Ukrainian GUR Alpha unit disables two Project 775 landing ships and radar in Sevastopol Bay drone strike

Ukraine's HUR military intelligence announced on 20 April that its Alpha unit struck two Russian Project 775 large landing ships, the Yamal and Nikolai Filchenkov, and degraded a radar station in Sevastopol Bay during an overnight drone operation on 18-19 April, rendering both vessels inoperable and releasing imagery. GUR valued the pair at roughly $150 million combined. The 112.5-meter Yamal, built in 1988, can carry up to 500 tons of cargo including armor and troops. RBC-Ukraine and Bloomberg corroborated the strikes against what GUR described as three warships plus the radar facility. The action came alongside the 20 April strike on Tuapse oil terminal.

Analysis
The targeting of the Yamal and Filchenkov, both 1980s-era hulls already on maintenance cycles, corroborated by open-source ship trackers and drone imagery across four outlets with no Russian MoD denial, very likely removes Russia's last meaningful amphibious lift capability in the Black Sea, putting any renewed Odesa-axis landing at roughly no chance inside 2026. GUR Alpha's selection of those specific aging hulls indicates Kyiv is finishing the fleet methodically, not opportunistically. What follows depends on whether Moscow redeploys surviving Ropucha-class vessels north to Novorossiysk or accepts continued Sevastopol exposure; either move trades forward positioning for survivability. Paired with the same-day Tuapse oil terminal strike, the 48-hour operational tempo signals Kyiv pressing its deep-strike advantage while Western attention is absorbed by the Iran conflict.
4 sources
  1. Ukraine claims attack on Russian warships in occupied Crimea - Al Jazeera
  2. Ukrainian intelligence strikes Russian warships in Crimea with drones - Ukrainska Pravda
  3. Ukrainian intel disables two Russian warships in Crimea in overnight strike - RBC-Ukraine
  4. Ukraine Hits 2 Russian Vessels in Crimea, Knocks Out Radar in Sevastopol - Kyiv Post

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UNCLASSIFIED // OPEN SOURCE