Why no more Ukrainian grain for Africa: The Ukrainian sea drones’ navigation systems showed that they had been launched from the Ukrainian coast near Odesa and traveled through an area of the Black Sea designated for the transit of foodstuffs under the grain deal before hitting Sevastopol

"Russia on Sunday claimed it had recovered the wreckage of sea drones used to attack its Black Sea Fleet in Crimea a day earlier, an assault that it said was the reason it pulled the plug on a critical deal that allowed for the export of grain from Ukrainian ports.

The specific weapons used in Saturday’s pre-dawn attack on the port city of Sevastopol and the full extent of the damage remained unclear. The Russian government accused Ukraine of using more than a dozen air and sea drones to target its ships in the Black Sea and said, without providing evidence, that British navy specialists had been involved.

Russia’s Defense Ministry repeated the claim on Sunday, saying in a statement that it had recovered wreckage of the sea drones “used by the Kyiv regime under the leadership of representatives of Great Britain.” It alleged that data on the drones’ navigation systems showed they had been launched from the Ukrainian coast near Odesa and traveled through an area of the Black Sea designated for the transit of foodstuffs under the grain deal.

No images or other evidence were provided to support the ministry’s claims.

Ukrainian officials have not commented publicly on Saturday’s attack, in line with a policy of official ambiguity about such strikes. But it appeared to be the most recent example of Ukrainian forces hitting sensitive Russian sites from afar, illustrating how powerful weapons provided by Western nations have significantly expanded Ukraine’s battlefield capabilities.

Maritime drones were among the items sent by Western nations to Ukraine, though officials have been extraordinarily secretive about the robot-controlled boats.

The United States first said in April that it would send an unspecified number of unmanned surface maritime vessels to Ukraine from its Navy stockpiles to be used for what the Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, described as “a variety of coastal defense missions.”

He declined to elaborate when pressed about the capabilities of the weapons that, at the time, were still viewed as largely experimental even though the American military was training Ukrainian forces to use them.

“Coastal defense is something that Ukraine has repeatedly said they’re interested in,” Mr. Kirby said on April 14.

In September, a senior NATO official described the remote-controlled boats as “torpedo-sized” but also would not discuss their capabilities or who had supplied them to Ukraine.

U.S. officials said on Sunday that the United States had not assisted with the attack on Sevastopol or provided Ukraine with the intelligence to carry it out. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter."