"Ukraine's Aquatic Prankster: Unveiling Marichka, the Ship-Startling Drone Submarine

Ukraine Reveals Sneaky 20-Foot Aquatic Gadget to Prank Russian Warships

Word has it that Ukraine has just unveiled a quirky 20-foot underwater contraption, codenamed Marichka, aimed at giving Russian warships a good old surprise from the depths of the sea. Talk about an aquatic sneak attack – forget surface-level pranks!

a declassified image of Marichka Unmanned suicide drone

Marichka, the mastermind behind this aquatic mischief, is all set to redefine the way Ukraine messes with Putin's Black Sea fleet. Up till now, Ukraine has been all about naval drone shenanigans on the surface, but Marichka is ready to make a splash in the depths.

Navalnews, the snazzy experts in all things ship-shape, pointed out that Marichka is all about hitting those ships where they least expect it – underwater! Apparently, this is like the ultimate prank upgrade for warships.

But here's the twist: these underwater uncrewed vehicles are like a swarm of bees with a mischievous streak. They're all about surprises and, let's be real, a little underwater hide-and-seek. Good luck defending against that!

Let's not forget Marichka's little sibling, the Toloka, who has been dabbling in this whole "sneak-attack-from-below" thing, but it's still a mystery whether it's been pranking Russian ships effectively.

Marichka's range is a cool 600 miles, and it's versatile too – attack, transport, or just chill and gather intel. A snazzy video shows Marichka being lowered into the sea for a test run, while an animated clip spills the tea on its specs.

As for its luggage space, the drone's secret remains locked away. Created by a bunch of volunteer engineers, humorously dubbed Ammo Ukraine (because who doesn't love a little pun in their defense tech?), this prankster of the sea costs around 16 million Ukrainian hryvnia, which is about $433,000. A small price to pay for some underwater tomfoolery, eh?

Since last year, Ukraine has been playing pranks on Russia's Black Sea warships in Crimea – drone-style. According to the head prankster, Kyrylo Budanov, these naval drones have been giving the Russian Black Sea Fleet a bit of a shock. Sure, Russia tries to crash their drone party, but Budanov's all like, "Hey, we still got 'em with that one."

Ukraine isn't just stopping at individual pranks; they've got a whole drone brigade now – the 385th Separate Brigade of Special-Purpose Marine Unmanned Systems. Yeah, they're in it for the long haul, folks.

In the grand finale, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy even made a cameo, presenting the brigade with some snazzy new colors at a Ukrainian Independence Day parade. Now that's how you throw a drone party!