Ukrainian sea drones strike Russian warship in Black Sea, reports say
Kyiv does appear to be deploying some bold new tactics - ITV News' Neil Connery has tha latest
Ukrainian sea drones attacked a Russian warship at a major port on the Black Sea on Friday, according to an anonymous Ukrainian official.
The strike near Novorossiysk harbour marks the first time a commercial Russian port has been targeted since the war began in March 2022.
The port, which is key for exports, also hosts a naval base, shipbuilding yards, and an oil terminal. It lies just across the Black Sea from Crimea, a region illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
Russia however claims it fended off the attack on Novorossiysk, saying ships patrolling the area destroyed two sea drones.
Russia's defence ministry said it fought off a separate attack overnight in Crimea, taking down 13 drones.
The security service of Ukraine and the country's navy carried out the attack on Novorossiysk port and a landing ship, Olenegorsky Gornyak, was damaged, according to reports.
The sea drone carried 450kg of explosives, a source told CNN Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh.
It is thought there may have been 100 Russian soldiers or personnel onboard when the sea drone hit, Paton Walsh reports.
An anonymous Ukrainian official told the Associated Press that, as a result of the attack, the ship is no longer able to carry out its combat missions.
On Friday, Ukrainian news agencies carried footage from social media channels that showed a ship listing - or tilting - to one side that they suggested was the Olenegorsky Gornyak.
The ship is designed to transport troops and heavy equipment and was sent for repairs in 2014, according to Russian media reports. It is normally based with Russia’s Northern Fleet in the Arctic.
A spokesperson for Ukraine's Defence Intelligence said "unidentified floating objects" damaged a Russian ship at the port, but did not confirm that Ukraine was behind the attack, CNN reports.
"In Moscow, there are unidentified flying objects. Here we have unidentified floating objects that have obviously damaged this landing ship," Andriy Yusov told Ukrainian media.
Yusov added that the attack was "a serious slap in the face" for the Kremlin.
On Friday the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said the port “is working in normal mode after the night UAVs attack", according to CNN.
Russia said there were no casualties or damage.
Friday's attack is the latest in a string of assaults inside Russian territory. Earlier this week, drones hit a building in Moscow - just a few months after a drone struck the Kremlin in May.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the latest attack showed "drones are changing the rules of the game... and ultimately destroying the value of the Russian fleet."
The assault comes as the Black Sea becomes an increasingly important battleground in the war following Russia's withdrawal from a deal that had allowed Ukrainian grain shipments through the sea.
Since scrapping the deal, Russia has hammered the country’s ports, compounding the blow to food markets worldwide.
On Wednesday, Russian drones caused significant damage and a huge fire at facilities in the Odesa region that are key to Ukrainian grain exports.
A day earlier, the Russian military said Kyiv’s forces tried to attack two patrol vessels in the sea, southwest of the Russian-controlled city of Sevastopol.
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