Ukraine said its sea drones struck a major Russian port Friday and damaged a warship in an attack that underlined Kyiv’s growing naval capabilities as the Black Sea becomes an increasingly important battleground in the war.
The strike on Novorossiysk halted maritime traffic for a few hours and marked the first time a commercial Russian port has been targeted in the nearly 18-month-old conflict. The port has a naval base, shipbuilding yards and an oil terminal, and is key for exports. It lies about 110 kilometres east of Crimea, where Russia’s Defence Ministry said it thwarted another attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that he had received a report from the country’s security service, the SBU, but didn’t say what was in it. But a Ukrainian intelligence source said the Olenegorsky Gornyak, a Russian Navy landing ship, had sustained a serious breach and could not conduct combat missions following what they said was a joint operation by the Ukrainian Navy and security service.Separately, a source with knowledge of the port’s operations said a large Russian naval vessel had to be towed ashore because it could not move under its own power after it was damaged.
Andrei Kravchenko, a Novorossiysk city official, said on the Telegram app that the Olenegorsky Gornyak was one of two ships that had “instantly reacted” to fend off the Ukrainian attack.Russian social media users had reported hearing explosions and gunfire near Novorossiysk on Friday morning. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which loads oil onto tankers in Novorossiysk, said its facilities had not been damaged and that oil loadings continued onto tankers, which were already moored.The port is one of the biggest in the Black Sea, and a major terminal for the export of oil and oil products. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium is the main exporter of Kazakh crude oil.
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