Russia says it has repelled a mass attack by Ukrainian high-speed marine drones on its aircraft carrier that was guarding gas pipelines in the Black Sea. 

The Russian defense ministry said in a statement on Sunday, “Ukraine’s armed forces made an unsuccessful attempt to attack The Black Sea Fleet’s Priazovye ship.”

The warship was monitoring “the situation and ensuring security along the routes of the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines in the southeastern part of the Black Sea,” the ministry said. 

The battleship continues to perform its tasks, it added.

The Priazovye, according to Russian sources, is armed with two automatic naval, AK-306 rotary cannons and surface-to-air missile launchers.

According to the ministry, a remotely piloted US military aircraft, known as the RQ-4 Global Hawk, was conducting reconnaissance in the Black Sea at the time of the attack.

German-made Leopard tanks, US Bradley vehicles targeted 

In a separate statement, the ministry said its forces had destroyed at least seven German-made Leopard tanks and five US-made Bradley vehicles over 48 hours while repelling Ukrainian attacks.

The military destroyed a column of armored vehicles of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade in the Zaporizhzhia region, it said.

“During the past day, the armed forces of Ukraine continued unsuccessful attempts of offensive actions in the Donetsk, southern Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia directions,” it said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that his military was engaged in “counter-offensive and defensive operations.”

His forces also claimed they have advanced by about a mile at some parts of the front line in the area on Saturday.

The Russian defense ministry, however, said later in the day that Ukraine’s forces launched attacks in the south of Donetsk and in Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as in the area of the eastern city of Bakhmut, but their attempts failed to recapture any territory.  

The ministry published several videos and pictures over recent days showing numerous strikes on Ukrainian-manned armored vehicles and tanks from Ka-52 attack helicopters and drones.

In footage released by the ministry on Saturday, drones were shown striking tanks in the Zaporizhzhia region where Kiev’s forces have so far focused their counteroffensive.

Ukraine’s president said last month that his country needed to wait for more Western armored vehicles to arrive before launching the counter-offensive.

He has been on a diplomatic push to maintain Western support, seeking more military aid and weapons, which is key for Ukraine to succeed.

The West accuses Russia of fighting a war of aggression against Ukraine while Moscow says the United States and NATO are fighting a proxy war against the country in Ukraine.

Since the onset of the conflict, the United States and its European allies have unleashed an array of unprecedented sanctions against Russia and poured numerous batches of advanced weapons into Ukraine to help its military fend off the Russian troops, despite repeated warnings by the Kremlin that such measures will only prolong the war.