The DIU reports on the disabled Baltic Fleet minesweeper "Alexander Obukhov"
The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine has reported a successful sabotage against the Baltic Fleet minesweeper Oleksandr Obukhov, which resulted in "water entering the engine due to a mysterious hole in the gas duct".
The GUR notes that the ship "suffered severe damage" and is undergoing major repairs, which may be delayed because the repair of its M503 engine is technically complex and expensive.
As proof of the sabotage, the DIU publishes a two-part video shot with a smartphone. In the first part, a voiceover tells us that the action takes place in October 2024, and the video shows the main engine being dismantled due to water ingress. In the second part of the video, we see someone making a hole in the gasket with a wire and an algorithmically altered voice announces that the recording was made on 29 September 2024 in the city of Baltiysk aboard the Alexander Obukhov minesweeper.
The ship was damaged in July of this year, was undergoing repairs in St. Petersburg, and became the second ship of the Russian Baltic Fleet to be disabled in the last six months. - In April 2024, during the DIU's Operation Rybalka, the missile boat Serpukhov was disabled.
Characteristics of the M503 engine:
- speed - 2200 rpm
- specific fuel consumption - 175-177 g/kWh
- engine service life - 300 hours
- weight - 4900 kg
- dimensions - 3600×1560×1630 mm
About the Alexander Obukhov minesweeper
The BT-730 Oleksandr Obukhov (serial No. 521) is a Project 12700 base minesweeper, codenamed Alexandrite, designed to search for and destroy mines in the waters of naval bases at a safe distance for the ship. It was designed by the Almaz Central Naval Design Bureau. The ship was laid down on 22 September 2011, launched on 27 June 2014 and commissioned into the Baltic Fleet in December 2016.
The ship has a displacement of 890 tonnes, a length of 61 metres, a beam of 10 metres, a speed of 16.5 knots at full displacement, and a crew of 44 people. To combat mines, the ship can use various types of trawls, as well as remote-controlled and autonomous unmanned underwater vehicles.
The ship's armament consists of a 30-mm six-barrel automatic naval gun, a 9K38 Golka anti-aircraft missile system, UDM, UDM-2, UDM-500, MPC-1, MPC-2, MPC-1, PMR-1, PMR-2 mines.
Source: Defence Intelligence of Ukraine
