Sea Baby
Ukrainian SBU-operated uncrewed surface vessel used repeatedly against Russian naval and shadow-fleet targets.
Last refreshed: 19 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
What is the difference between the SBU's Sea Baby drones and Ukraine's other naval drone force?
Timeline for Sea Baby
Mentioned in: Sea drones push into the Black Sea
Russia-Ukraine War 2026Background
An SBU-operated Sea Baby uncrewed surface vessel struck the tanker Blue near Yalta on 8 July 2026, one strike within a wider Ukrainian campaign against Russian naval and shadow-fleet shipping.
Sea Baby drones are operated by Ukraine's domestic security service, the SBU, and have been used repeatedly against Russian naval assets and shadow-fleet tankers moving sanctioned oil. They are distinct from the drones run by the Unmanned Systems Forces, a separate Ukrainian military branch, which extended the wider maritime campaign from the Sea of Azov into the Black Sea on 15 July under the name Operation MoLoChKa, hitting 20 vessels in a single night.
The two efforts run in parallel rather than as one command: SBU-operated Sea Baby strikes and Unmanned Systems Forces operations both target Russia's ability to move oil and military cargo by sea, and press coverage sometimes blurs the two into a single campaign.
What is a Sea Baby drone?
Which ship did a Sea Baby drone hit near Yalta?
Is Sea Baby the same as Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces?
