Such strikes, typically done with air or sea drones, have become more frequent as Ukraine shows an increasing commitment to bring the fight to Russian soil after more than 17 months of enduring attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure.
While Russia’s Defense Ministry accused Ukraine of using two sea drones to attack the naval base near Novorossiysk, it said that it had detected and destroyed the uncrewed boats and that there was no damage. But unverified videos on social media showed a large Russian ship being towed to port, appearing to list to one side.
The Olenegorsky Miner is a large amphibious landing vessel that can carry heavy cargo and military vehicles.
The contradictory accounts by the Defense Ministry and by Russian military bloggers who posted videos of the damaged ship highlighted the difficulty of controlling the information sphere when military setbacks arise.
Ukraine’s increasing drone attacks, which have also targeted Moscow skyscrapers in the past week, have been an embarrassment for Russia as it has struggled to prevent the strikes while Ukraine’s air defenses contend with a wide array of Russian drones and missiles on a near-nightly basis.
Ukrainian officials rarely take public credit for the attacks on Russian territory, but they have repeatedly hinted at responsibility, adding that the strikes will continue as long as Russia continues to occupy Ukrainian land.
Kyiv cannot use Western-provided weapons in assaults on mainland Russia, but Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s commander in chief, told The Washington Post in an interview in June that Ukraine uses its own weaponry in such cases.
The extent of the damage on Friday was unclear, but the reach of the sea drones could force Moscow to move its Black Sea fleet out of fear for its vulnerability.
As Ukraine has no real naval fleet of its own, sea drones loaded with explosives have become a vital tool for countering the Russians on the Black Sea. The drones were first used in an attack last year near the port of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. They were also used for an attack in July on the Crimean Bridge, which Russia built in 2018 to link its mainland with the occupied peninsula. The SBU was responsible for those attacks, too, the Ukrainian official said.
In a separate pre-dawn attack, the Russian naval port in Feodosia, on Crimea, was hit by long-range aerial drones, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The ministry claimed to have shot down 10 drones while three others were suppressed by electronic warfare, adding that there was no damage.
Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian military’s southern command, told Radio Liberty that the Russian fleet uses a large oil storage facility at the port in Feodosia, and “we should continue to expect explosions there.”
The attacks targeting Russia’s Black Sea infrastructure and vessels are likely in response to recent attacks on Ukrainian ports and grain storage facilities after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to terminate a United Nations-brokered deal allowing grain exports from the Black Sea.
Russian strikes on Monday targeted grain warehouses along the Danube River — a key alternative route for exports following the collapse of the Black Sea deal — and appeared to be aimed at crippling the country’s entire agricultural industry, which accounted for about 20 percent of Ukraine’s economy before Russia’s invasion.
“The enemy will increasingly feel the inevitability of his defeat,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. “Our victory will become the basis for preserving the world order.”
Natalia Abbakumova in Riga, Latvia, and Serhiy Morgunov in Stuttgart, Germany, contributed to this report.
