Ukraine Strikes Russian Warship in Rare Attack on Mainland Port

Ukraine struck a Russian port with a pair of marine drones overnight, leaving a 100-man warship listing in the water Friday.

Russia said Friday that two unmanned Ukrainian naval drones had attacked its Black Sea navy base at Novorossiysk. It was the second apparent strike on Novorossiysk by unmanned explosive craft. 

"In Novorossiysk Bay, as a result of a drone attack, the large amphibious ship Olenegorsky Gornyak was damaged," Sergey Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odesa military administration, said on Telegram.

"This is, in fact, a ship of the Northern Fleet...brought to the Black Sea with the aim of reinforcing assault groups and landing [Russian forces] near Odesa."

Olenegorsky Gornyak is a 369-foot landing craft. 

A video from a drone-mounted camera posted to social media by the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet shows the vessel pushing through dark waters and into the side of a large ship before the feed cuts out.

"The video shows a SBU USV [uncrewed surface vessel] loaded with 450 kilograms of TNT attacking an enemy ship with about 100 crew members on board," a source told Ukrainska Pravda.

The attack came after days of Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian ports and storage facilities that have destroyed more than 160,000 tons of grain. 

Russian officials claimed Friday the attack was repulsed without damage. The Novorossiysk Mayor Andrey Kravchenko said the crews of the Olenegorsky Gonyak and Suvorovets warships “immediately reacted to the attack and helped to avoid consequences.” Officials said there were no casualties.

But in footage posted to Telegram and other sites, the Olenegorsky Gornyak appeared to be listing 50 degrees as it was towed back to port. 

Ukraine has used naval drones to attack Russian targets in occupied Crimea, including a strike last month that damaged the $3.7 billion Kerch bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland.

Russian officials said air defenses had shot down 10 Ukrainian drones over Crimea early Friday, and downed three others with electronic jamming.