Ukraine launched anti-ship missiles, jet-powered aerial drones and sea drones against Russia’s major naval base at Novorossiysk, striking military and port infrastructure as Moscow reported more than 500 Ukrainian drones intercepted across the region.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Ukraine carried out a large-scale nighttime attack on Russia’s naval facilities at Novorossiysk, using anti-ship missiles, jet-powered aerial drones and unmanned sea vessels in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Wednesday as a “unique” operation against Moscow’s remaining major Black Sea stronghold.
The assault targeted air-defense systems, piers and other port infrastructure in the Krasnodar region city, Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian military “carried out a unique operation targeting the naval base in Novorossiysk — the last major stronghold of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.
The attack marked another effort by Ukraine to pressure Russia’s naval presence in the Black Sea, where Kyiv has increasingly relied on domestically developed unmanned systems since Russia invaded more than four years ago.
Ukrainian sea and aerial drones have repeatedly been used against Russian warships and oil tankers. Ukrainian officials say those attacks have curtailed the movement of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, once the dominant naval force in the region, and have become one of Kyiv’s most significant military achievements of the war.
Russia reported a much broader overnight attack across the Krasnodar region.
Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said hundreds of Ukrainian drones targeted Novorossiysk, Anapa, Gelendzhik and the Temryuk district.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down more than 500 Ukrainian drones.
The strikes also resulted in civilian casualties, according to Russian officials.
An 8-year-old child was killed in Novorossiysk, Kondratyev said. A person wounded when a home in the Temryuk region was struck later died at a hospital.
Twelve other people across the region were wounded, he said.
Debris from intercepted drones landed on four industrial facilities and 21 residential buildings, according to Kondratyev. Russian officials did not provide additional details about damage at those sites.
Novorossiysk carries strategic importance beyond its role as a naval base.
The city is home to a major international oil terminal, while the nearby Grushovaya oil transshipment complex is one of southern Russia’s largest hubs for handling crude oil and petroleum products.
Ukraine’s previous attacks on Novorossiysk have also raised concerns in Washington because of the city’s role in exporting Kazakh oil.
In February, the U.S. State Department expressed displeasure over Ukrainian strikes on Novorossiysk, saying the attacks had affected American oil interests in Kazakhstan.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium operates a pipeline connecting the Caspian coast of northwestern Kazakhstan with Novorossiysk. The route carries a substantial share of crude exports from three major Kazakh oil fields in which U.S. energy companies Chevron and ExxonMobil hold stakes.
Ukraine also launched extensive drone attacks against Russian-controlled Crimea overnight.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-appointed leader of Sevastopol, said air defenses intercepted 115 Ukrainian drones over the city. Ten apartment buildings and 25 private homes were damaged, he said.
The escalation came as Zelenskyy warned that Ukrainian intelligence believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing to expand his forces substantially before the end of the year.
Putin is planning “an additional rapid mobilization of several hundred thousand Russians by the end of the year,” Zelenskyy said late Tuesday.
Ukrainian officials believe Putin remains committed to continuing the war despite slow and costly advances by Russia’s larger military and ongoing U.S. diplomatic efforts to negotiate a settlement.
Russia, meanwhile, continued its own long-range strikes against Ukraine during the same overnight period.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 138 long-range attack drones along with an unspecified number of missiles.
Damage was reported at 16 locations across Ukraine.
In the southern Kherson region, an overnight Russian drone attack killed two people and wounded two others, regional head Oleksandr Prokudin said Wednesday.
Russian strikes also destroyed a shopping mall in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, according to local authorities.
The simultaneous attacks underscored the continuing intensity of the war as Ukraine sought to weaken Russia’s Black Sea naval infrastructure while Moscow maintained its campaign of drone and missile strikes against Ukrainian cities and regions.
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