Suspected Chinese Boats Off Taiwance Island
Captured Gyurza-M flying the Russian Navy flag, shared online May 25

Russia Taking Captured Ukrainian Navy Vessels Into Service

Flag Russia Berdyansk will be remembered in the Ukraine Invasion as where a Russian Navy landing ship met its dramatic end. On March 24 a suspected Ukrainian ballistic missile attack caused the Pr. 1171 Alligator class landing ship Saratov to explode. There was another naval victory at Berdyansk however, one for the Russians.

Several Ukrainian vessels had been captured there in the first days of the war. Evidence suggests that at least one of these has been pressed into Russian Navy service.

The relatively small Ukrainian Navy was no match for the Russian Navy. Out numbered and out gunned, several Ukrainian vessels were captured by the advancing Russians. The small force in the Sea of Azov did not play a visible role. About a dozen of its vessels were captured at Berdyansk. These included two Pr. 58155 Gyurza-M gunboats, among the more capable units in the Ukrainian inventory.

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The captured Gyurza-Ms, P-174 Akkerman (BK-02) and P-179 Vishgorod (BK-06). Other vessels included several Pr.1400M Zhuk patrol boats and P 186 "Korets", an armed tug. (EDIT: Reports in Russian media of a vintage Polnocny-class landing ship being captured were incorrect). Some of the captured vessels were moved to Novorossiysk, a Russian Naval base on the Black Sea, in late April.

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The captured vessels in Novorossiysk, late April.

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Now photos have emerged of one of the captured Gyurza-M flying the Russian Navy flag. The photos can easily be geolocated to Sevastopol, the main Russian Navy base in Crimea.

Two more Gyurza-M were captured at Mariupol: P-177 Kremenchuk (BK-04) at Mariupol, and P-178 Lubny ( BK-05). It remains to be seen whether the Gyurza-M, and/or any other ex-Ukrainian ships, will be fully operational with the Russian Forces. They may prove useful given the losses experienced by the Raptor assault boats off Snake Island. And their use could cause confusion (for both sides).

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