A Russian naval ship was heavily damaged after being attacked by Ukrainian drones on Friday, according to reports.
Moscow’s defense ministry said in a statement that two unmanned drones attacked the naval base near the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, but were “detected and destroyed” by Russian ships guarding the harbor before they could damage any infrastructure. No casualties were reported.
However, footage circulating on Telegram shows a damaged Russian warship listing in the water after the attack. This shows that Moscow appears to be undermining the attack on the naval base.
Ukrainian government adviser Anton Gerashchenko said that the “special operation” was carried out by the Security Service and the navy, adding that it left a “serious hole” in the side of the Russian vessel.
Novorossiysk is one of the largest ports in the Black Sea basin and one of the two major ports of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which controls an oil terminal near the port, issued a statement on Friday saying that “a temporary ban on the movement of ships in the CPC water area and the port of Novorossiysk” had been imposed. “There is no damage to the Consortium’s infrastructure,” the statement added.
This comes as the Biden administration recently authorized the military to deploy 3,000 more troops to Ukraine as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.
“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby determine that it is necessary to augment the active Armed Forces of the United States for the effective conduct of Operation Atlantic Resolve in and around the United States European Command’s area of responsibility,” President Joe Biden said last month.
The order specified that no more than 3,000 people can be activated at any given time, of whom no more than 450 may be members of the Individual Ready Reserve. The reserve consists of trained troops who have already served in the Active Army or Selected Reserve.
Operation Atlantic Resolve is an initiative that was launched after Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Created by NATO, the program aims to strengthen their deterrence posture along their eastern flank.
