The attack damaged the warship hundreds of miles from Ukrainian-held territory, as Kyiv increasingly tries to bring the war home to Russia.
A Ukrainian maritime drone damaged a Russian warship on the Black Sea on Friday, the most serious strike on Moscow’s navy since last year, demonstrating both the escalating conflict at sea and the growing range and capability of Ukraine’s uncrewed vehicles.
The drone slammed into the ship and detonated its explosive payload near the Russian port of Novorossiysk, a key naval and shipping hub on the northeastern shore of the Black Sea, hundreds of miles from the nearest Ukrainian-controlled territory.
The New York Times verified multiple videos and photographs of a Ropucha-class landing ship listing to its port side, both being guided into the harbor and at a dock. The same type of ship is seen in a video taken by a naval drone speeding toward the ship and apparently striking it on the port side.
The Black Sea has been a vital theater of the war since Russia’s full-scale invasion almost a year and a half ago, with Russian warships there firing cruise missiles at Ukraine, including at targets hundreds of miles inland, and enforcing a blockade of Ukrainian ports. Moscow’s fleet keeps a more cautious distance from Ukraine’s coast since Ukrainian forces sank the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, in April 2022, using missiles fired from shore.
The naval conflict has heated up recently as Ukraine has expanded the size and reach of its drone force. Raising the stakes still higher, Russia withdrew last month from a deal allowing grain ships to pass to and from Ukraine, stepped up its bombardment of Ukrainian ports and made threats against civilian shipping from other nations trying to reach Ukraine. Officials in Kyiv claim that since halting the agreement, Russia has destroyed more than 200,000 tons of grain bound for overseas markets.
Three Ukrainian officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters, said the attack in Novorossiysk was a joint operation of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Navy.
