Ukranian drone commander who sank some of Russia’s best warships in ‘never done before’ attack says he wants ‘to sink something bigger’ and claims Putin’s entire Black Sea fleet could be destroyed

Ukraine's naval drone commander claims Vladimir Putin's entire Black Sea Fleet could be destroyed.

Known only as callsign13, he fulfilled a life's purpose by sinking a Russian warship on November 10 when two were shot down in the waters off Choronomorske, Crimea.

He is currently stationed at a secret base on the Dnipro River, where he has a naval fleet of drones with enough explosives to wipe out the entire Russian Black Sea Navy.

Callsign13 now has its eyes set on “sinking something bigger,” he said The times.

On how drones managed to prevent a beam of bullets being fired from machine guns to wipe out a Shark and Serna class landing craft, the Russians couldn't stop them despite knowing they were coming.

A Ukrainian drone boat washes up at the home base of Russia's Black Sea Fleet near Crimea. Ukraine used the drones to destroy two Russian warships last month

A landing boat carrying Russian marines was destroyed by a Ukrainian army drone on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea in September

“It was my life's goal to sink a Russian ship and we sank two at once,” he said. “And as far as I know, no one has ever done this before.”

One of the successes of the conflict has been Ukraine's ability to push back Russia's fleet, opening corridors for the economy and global supply.

It was something Lord Cameron noted when he visited Odesa last month.

He said: 'If you look at the big picture, what's happened lately is that the Ukrainians have pushed the Russian Navy right back across the Black Sea, they've opened up a shipping lane to get their exports out, their economy is growing.

'And of course they knock on the door of both NATO and the EU and they get a very warm response.

'These are enormous achievements. And our job today is to build on these achievements and figure out what other concrete steps we can take to help the Ukrainians in their struggle, and to show that Russian aggression should never pay.”

But call sign 13 still has a dream to cripple Putin's navy.

“My dream is to sink more Russian ships, much bigger ones,” he said.

'So much that they shouldn't be able to sail at all. Do we have the ability to wipe out the entire Black Sea Fleet? Yes. And that's what we're working on.'

Just two days ago, Ukraine destroyed one of Putin's newly built warships in a daring missile attack on Russia-annexed Crimea.

The crashed ship was named as the newly built Askold missile ship, one of the most modern in Vladimir Putin's navy.

Images show the attack hit the Butoma shipyard in Kerch, near Putin's Grand Bridge that connects the annexed peninsula with Russia

Russian and Ukrainian media report that Askold, Russia's newest missile carrier (photo), was hit in a November 4, 2023 missile attack in Crimea

Moscow admitted losing a ship in an attack by 13 cruise missiles, but did not specify which one.

Images showed the attack hit the Butoma shipyard in Kerch, near Putin's Grand Bridge that connects the annexed peninsula with Russia.

Since launching a counter-offensive against Moscow's forces this summer, Kiev has stepped up attacks on the peninsula in an effort to suppress Russia's naval fleet in the Black Sea.

According to state media, the Russian Ministry of Defense said: 'On November 4, the Ukrainian army launched 15 cruise missiles at the BE Butoma (Zaliv) shipyard in the city of Kerch.

'Air defense systems shot down thirteen cruise missiles. As a result of the hit by an enemy cruise missile, a ship located near the factory was damaged.'

The ministry did not say how badly the ship was damaged or identify which ship was attacked.

Debris from the downed missiles also fell on a nearby embankment, but no one was injured, said Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of Crimea.

The nearby Crimean Bridge to the Russian mainland was briefly closed on Saturday for unknown reasons.

Ukraine announced the attack on Saturday and confirmed the details on Sunday.

“On the evening of November 4, the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out successful attacks on the maritime and port infrastructure of the Zaliv shipyard in temporarily occupied Kerch,” the report said.

Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, referred to the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet that was sunk by Ukrainian missiles on April 14, 2022, in a Telegram post, saying: “I hope another ship has the Moskva followed.'

The second Russian shipbuilding factory 'Zaliv' in Kerch, Crimea, was hit

Moscow admitted losing a ship in an attack with thirteen cruise missiles

The Askold is a Karakurt warship from Project 22800, and three are being built at the Russian-occupied shipyard

Ukrainian sources later indicated that the destroyed ship was the 60-meter Kalibr missile aboard Askold, which was about to enter service, or one of two others of the same Karakurt class.

Some stories say it was hit three times by the French version of the Storm Shadow missile.

'The ship has not yet even taken part in sailing or fighting; it underwent some final testing so that it could then go to sea and fight against our state,” Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said.

The Askold is a Karakurt warship from Project 22800, and three are being built at the Russian-occupied shipyard.

Some accounts say that the Askold had moved to Novorossiysk, like many Russian warships in the Black Sea, further from Ukraine's missile range.

The other two being built at Kerch are the Amur and the Cyclone, and like the Askold should enter service this year.