Russia has ordered an increase in naval firepower and training to counter the threat posed by Ukrainian air and naval drones following a series of strikes on Russian warships.
"There should be training for personnel every day. Training on how to repel attacks from the air and from unmanned boats," Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a statement during a visit to the Black Sea Fleet in southern Russia.
Shoigu "ordered the installation of additional firepower, large-caliber machine gun systems to engage enemy unmanned aerial vehicles," the Defense Ministry said in a statement, AFP reported.
The Black Sea is a vital battleground in the two-year conflict, and Ukraine has been able to achieve major successes
Amid the series of Ukrainian attacks, Moscow has moved many warships from its historic Sevastopol naval base in Crimea to the port of Novorossiysk, further east.
Ukrainian officials have boasted of military successes in the Black Sea at a time when its ground forces are often forced to withdraw or are on the defensive in eastern Ukraine.
Earlier this month, Ukraine's GRU military intelligence agency released video footage of an attack on the 94-meter-long Russian military patrol vessel Sergei Kotov.
The footage clearly shows a naval drone approaching the ship's side, then a large explosion that sends fire, smoke and debris into the sky. /BGNES
