Russian Coast Guard Icebreaker Damaged/Sunk? by Ukrainian Drone in Shipyard 1000 km from Ukraine

Hit by Ukrainian drone. The Purga icebreaking patrol vessel, which is built for the FSB Coast Guard was seriously damaged in the drone attack on March 25, 2026. Photo: Exilenova+ on Telegram

The Barents Observer reports,

A high-profile Russian security service vessel, designed for Arctic operations, has been struck by a Ukrainian drone while docked at the Vyborg shipyard near St. Petersburg.

Covert Shores goes further saying,

Mar 25: Ukrainian drones hit the Pr.23550 arctic patrol ship Purga (475) in Vyborg near St. Petersburg. Ship sunk and capsized at the quay.

In any case, it is likely the ship will be raised and returned to service.

We have previously discussed this class of ships and this ship in particular.

1 thought on “Russian Coast Guard Icebreaker Damaged/Sunk? by Ukrainian Drone in Shipyard 1000 km from Ukraine

  1. It will be interesting to see how quickly they will manage to salvage the vessel — it could be said that every additional day underwater delays the delivery by more than a day.

    Kapitan Ushakov, the Russian Navy tug that capsized last August while moored at the shipyard’s outfitting quay in Saint Petersburg, is still resting on its side in the Neva river.

    https://www.thebarentsobserver.com/security/brand-new-arctic-military-tug-capsized-at-pier/434823

    The dark grey-hulled ship next to the submerged Purga (and possibly keeping it upright) is Vice-Admiral Burilichev, a Project 22010 “oceanographic research vessel” (western media refers to it as “spy ship”) for the Russian Navy. I wonder if that would have been a more valuable target.

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