Sea combat in the Black Sea (2008)
The Russo-Georgian naval battle in the Black Sea between the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy and the Georgian Navy took place on August 10, 2008 near the coast of Abkhazia during the war in South Ossetia .
Course from the perspective of the Russian participants
On August 10, 2008 the group of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation, consisting of 2 large landing ships (flagship Zesar Kunikow and Saratov ) and 2 protection ships ( Mirage from project 1234.1 and Suzdalets from project 1124M ) was off the coast of Abkhazia, in the zone declared by Russia to be a security zone for the time of the conflict. The flagship of the fleet, the guided missile cruiser Moskva , was in the Novorossiysk area that day and did not take part in the collision.
In the area of patrol of Russian ships, five boats moving at high speed were registered, including three patrol and two missile boats Dioskuriya ( Tiger class , supplied from Greece) and Tbilisi (Project 206MR , supplied from Ukraine), which are heading for the border with Russia had violated the declared safety zone and did not respond to warnings. The Georgian ships went on an approach to the Russian ships for reasons unknown. At 6:39 p.m. Susdalez fired a warning shot with a 9K33 Osa anti-aircraft missile . The missile landed between the Georgian ships. The Georgians continued their journey and increased their speed.
Then at 6.41 p.m. Mirage fired two P-120 Malachite cruise missiles at the Tiger-class missile from a distance of 25 km . Both missiles (each with an 840 kg warhead) hit, the struck boat sank immediately and disappeared from the radar screen. The remaining four Georgian ships turned, but at 6:50 p.m. one of them, the rocket boat Tbilisi (board number 302), approached the Russian ships again. After that, Mirage fired an Osa-type missile from a distance of 15 km. The hit caused Tbilisi to lose speed and get out of the line of fire.
From the report of the Mirage commander : “Of five targets, one is destroyed, one damaged, three did not take part in the battle. Consumption of missiles: anti-ship two, anti-aircraft one, no casualties among the personnel. There is no damage to the ship. "
The Georgian side did not reveal any details about this sea battle.