Overnight last night, the Kiev regime launched two apparently coordinated sets of drone attacks, one on Crimea, and the other on the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, about 125 km southeast of Kerch, also home to a base of the Black Sea Fleet. “Tonight the AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] carried out an attempt to attack the naval base in Novorossiysk by two unmanned sea boats,” a Russian Defense Ministry statement said. “In the course of repelling the attack, the unmanned boats were detected and destroyed by fire from the standard weapons of Russian ships guarding the outer harbor of the naval base.” Aside from the naval base, there is also a crude oil terminal in the port, which could have been the original intended target of the sea drones.
There is video evidence circulating on Russian-oriented Telegram channels that suggests that a Russian naval vessel was indeed damaged. First, there is a video, apparently released by Kiev from the drone itself, heading towards the ship up until the point of impact. Second, there is video, taken some hours later, of the ship listing heavily to port, being towed by tugs towards the shore. There is also imagery of an object burning furiously in the water, likely the second drone after it was destroyed by Russian gunfire.
The Russian Defense Ministry has not confirmed that any ships were damaged, but a Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters that the Olenegorsky Gornyak, a Russian Navy landing ship, had suffered a serious breach, and could not conduct combat missions following what they said was a joint operation by the Ukrainian Navy and SBU intelligence service.
