The attack in Novorossiysk paralyzed shipping traffic for several hours, marking the first attack on a Russian port in almost 18 months of war. The port includes a naval base, shipyards and an oil terminal, and is crucial for exports. It lies 110 kilometers (60 miles) east of Crimea, where another attack was thwarted, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
The Security Service and the Navy of Ukraine launched the attack that caused damage to the Olenegorsky Gornyak, a landing ship of the Russian Navy, according to a security service official, known as SBU. The attack disabled the vessel and as a result she will not be able to carry out combat missions, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to report to the media.
Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press appeared to show oil leaking from the ship. A Planet Labs image taken a few hours after the attack showed a ship alongside the dock and another vessel alongside it. The ship in the image had the same dimensions and characteristics as the Olenegorsky Gornyak. Images on social networks showed a listing ship.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had received a report from the SBU, but did not disclose its content.
“I will only say that we thank the Security Service of Ukraine for returning the war to the aggressor state. What you bring into the world comes back to you,” he said. Indirect allusions to the attacks against Russia are frequent among Ukrainian officials, since they usually do not acknowledge them or do so days later.
Friday’s was the latest attack inside Russia. It also reflects increased fighting in the Black Sea after the Kremlin withdrew from an agreement that allowed Ukraine to export its grain by sea.
On Wednesday, Russian drones caused significant damage and a large fire at a grain facility in the Odessa region. A day earlier, the Russian military said Kiev forces tried to attack two of its patrol vessels in the sea southwest of the Crimean city of Sevastopol, a region annexed by Moscow.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a Zelenskyy adviser, applauded the latest attack because, he said, it showed that “drones are changing the rules of the game… and destroying the value of the Russian fleet.”
The Russian Navy, far superior to the Ukrainian one, has controlled the seas in the war to date. Its ships frequently fire cruise missiles at ports and cities in Ukraine, and have largely blockaded the country’s coastline and mined the Black Sea, where shipping traffic has flown dangerously.
Podolyak’s statements and other recent attacks at sea and against the Kerch bridge connecting Crimea with Russia could indicate that Ukraine is trying to change the dynamics of the war.
With the most recent attack, “kyiv showed that it can attack any Black Sea Fleet ship, no matter the distance,” said Ukrainian military analyst Roman Svytan.
The end of the agreement that allowed safe transit for grain-laden ships leaving Ukrainian ports “untied Kiev’s hands,” Svytan said, predicting that the frequency of attacks on Russian ships will increase.
While Friday’s attack was an important morale booster in Ukraine, challenging Russia’s naval power in the Black Sea will be difficult for kyiv.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has nearly 50 warships, seven submarines and many support vessels, and Ukraine has said it lost more than 80% of its naval capacity after Moscow annexed Crimea.
Despite Russia’s superiority, Ukrainian missiles last year sank the flagship of the fleet, the cruiser Moskva, and destroyed the landing ship Saratov in the occupied port of Berdyansk. Several more ships have been damaged, according to reports.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its navy repelled an attack on Friday, and its ships destroyed two Ukrainian marine drones. Images posted on Russian social networks showed what appeared to be a ship shooting into the sea and a burning object exploding.
But other images posted on messaging app channels showed the Olenegorsky Gornyak listing, and some Russian military bloggers confirmed it was damaged. Ukrainian media released images that they said were taken by the camera on board the aquatic drone as it approached the Russian ship.
The AP was unable to verify the videos.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the attack during a conference call with journalists.
The Caspian Pipeline Concern, which operates an oil terminal in Novorossiysk, said shipping was disrupted for a few hours but its facilities were not damaged. The regional governor said there were no casualties.
Minutes after confirming the attack on the Black Sea port early on Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had also repelled another Ukrainian attack on Crimea. According to the Ministry, the air defense systems shot down 10 drones and disabled another three.
Videos shared on Russian social media, presumably taken from around the city of Feodosia, showed what appeared to be anti-aircraft defense systems in operation, as well as loud explosions.
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Burrows reported from Tallnn, Estonia. Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Geir Moulson and Yuras Karmanau in Berlin contributed to this report.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
