The ramming was carried out this Friday, August 4, with aquatic drones that knocked out the Russian warship Olenegorsky Gornyak, the Ukrainian Security Service said. In an apparent retaliatory move after Moscow’s increased attacks on Ukrainian grain export infrastructure, Kiev’s assault hit the Novorosiysk naval base, Russia’s key Black Sea port for its exports. The Kremlin acknowledged the attack but has not commented on the status of the ship.
It is the first Ukrainian attack on a Russian trading port since the war began 18 months ago.
In a joint attack between the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and its Navy, maritime drones attacked this Friday, August 4 the naval base in the Russian city of Novorosiyskwith access to the Black Sea.
Ukrainian intelligence stressed that as a result, the russian warship Olenegorsky Gornyak, with about 100 soldiers on board, it suffered severe damage and was “out of action”.
The maritime drone that hit the ship was carrying 450 kilograms of TNT explosives.
It is a Ropucha-class project 775 large ship, built by the Soviet Union in the 1970s.
“As a result of the attack, the Olenegorsky Gornyak suffered a serious breach and is currently unable to carry out its combat missions,” a Kiev intelligence source was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Ukraine’s Navy and main internal security service, the SBU, used sea drones early Friday to attack a Russian naval base near the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, a Ukrainian government official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.… pic.twitter.com/8IhbmVrb64
—The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 4, 2023
The port against which the ramming was launched is crucial for Moscow, since, in addition to a naval base, it houses shipyards and an oil terminal and is a key area for its exports.
That place on the coast, which handles 2% of the world’s oil supply and from which grain is also shipped abroad, temporarily halted the movement of civilian ships before resuming normal operations, according to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. which operates an oil terminal there.
Andriy Ryzhenko, a retired Ukrainian navy captain and naval consultant, estimated that the maritime drones had traveled 740 kilometers from their probable launch area to Novorossiysk, which would amount to a significant increase in their range.
“This is the first time the Ukrainian navy has projected power so far,” Ryzhenko said.
“All Russian statements about a ‘repelled attack’ are false”
Moscow confirmed that Ukrainian maritime drones attacked a naval base near the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. However, it has not ruled on the state of the Olenegorsky Gornyak.
Hours earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that it had thwarted Ukrainian attacks between Thursday night and Friday morning against a naval base in the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula.
According to the Kremlin portfolio, Russian ships patrolling the perimeter of the naval base destroyed two Ukrainian maritime drones.
Novorossiysk Mayor Andrey Kravchenko claimed that the crews of the Olenegorsky Gonyak and Suvorovets ships “immediately reacted to the attack and helped to avoid the consequences.”
For his part, Veniamin Kondratiev, governor of the Krasnodar region where the base is located, said there were no casualties.
Another Russian ship is on the edge of its fall, meanwhile undermining the aggressor’s security reputation in the Black Sea waters.
One of its compartments flooded, nearly causing it to capsize near the shores of #NovorossiyskRussia. pic.twitter.com/gYqYVj1rGD
— MFA of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (@MFA_Ukraine) August 4, 2023
But the kyiv source consulted by Reuters denied those claims. “All Russian statements about a ‘repelled attack’ are false,” she remarked.
“We have open information that it is indeed damaged (…) It is absolutely legal to destroy the potential of the enemy in times of war,” said Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for the military command of southern Ukraine.
A video released by some Ukrainian authorities shows what would be the Novorossiysk naval base and a Russian military ship leaning to one side.
Tensions in and near the Black Sea have escalated since Russia withdrew last July from the agreement allowing the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports.
Since then, Russian drones and missiles have repeatedly attacked the invaded country’s port facilities and Ukrainian grain silos in or near that sea zone. All this is denounced by Kiev as an attempt by Moscow to block the shipment of Ukrainian agricultural products to other nations at all costs, while Russia is willing to replace them on the market.
At the last summit between Russia and Africa, in Saint Petersburg, Vladimir Putin promised “free grains” from his country for the nations of that continent, the most affected by the blockade of these foods.
Ukraine denounces Russian plan on ‘false flag’ attack in Belarus
On this same day, the Ukrainian Security Service accused Russia of preparing to carry out a “false flag” attack on the Mozyr oil refinery in Belarus, an ally of the Kremlin and which shares a border with northern Ukraine. .
The purpose? Blaming alleged Ukrainian spoilers as part of an effort to lure Minsk into the war, kyiv said.
He SBU said in a statement that the alleged assault it would be carried out by military and intelligence forces sent by Moscow to Belarusian soil, “disguised” as Wagner’s mercenaries, exiled from Ukraine where they were fighting for Russia, after the unprecedented mutiny of the armed movement against the Kremlin’s military leadership, the last june.
“Russia plans to accuse Ukraine of what it has done to try once again to draw Minsk into full-scale war against our state,” kyiv reiterated.
Under the alleged plan, a Russian sabotage-reconnaissance group would carry out a “provocation” at the refinery.
Moscow would then blame the attack on Kyiv in an attempt to drive Belarus into the war against Ukraine, the SBU wrote on Aug. 4.https://t.co/f6QF0drvak
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) August 4, 2023
Although Ukraine has not released any evidence, it says its claims are based on information obtained from various sources, including a captured Russian military officer.
So far the Minsk troops have not taken a direct part in the war.
However, the country led by Alexander Lukashenko was a crucial support in the momentum of the Russian war when it hosted thousands of troops on the border, prior to the invasion. It also served as the setting for the failed Russian advance on the Ukrainian capital, which he intended to capture in the early days of the full-scale conflict.
With Reuters, AP and local media
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