Russian navy ship capsizes after Ukraine launches audacious drone attack on port

A Russian warship has been destroyed after a Ukrainian drone strike at a navy base in the Black Sea.

Ukrainian sea drones attacked the Russian base near the port of Novorossiysk overnight and at least one of the fleet capsized.

The attack prompted the Novorossiysk port to temporarily halt all ship movement, according to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium which operates an oil terminal there.

Russian social media users reported hearing explosions and gunfire near Novorossiysk on Friday morning.

The drones used in the strike were later destroyed by the Russian warships, Russia’s defence ministry said.

It would mark the first Ukrainian attack on one of Russia’s main commercial ports.

Novorossiysk lies to the south of Ukraine on the west coast of Russia, around 90 miles from Krasnodar, and is a major hub for Russian exports.

A Ukrainian war vlogger said on Telegram this morning: ‘One of the ships of the Russian Federation was shot down during a drone attack on Novorossiysk.

‘He lay down on his side, and now he is being dragged to the shore.’

Emergency services in Novorossiysk confirmed the reports of blasts and security services have been informed, Russia’s RIA news agency reported. 

The ship had to be ‘dragged to shore’ after it was struck, according to a Ukrainian war vlogger

The port is one of the biggest in the Black Sea.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which is the main exporter of Kazakh crude and loads oil onto tankers in Novorossiysk, said the port has temporarily barred all ship movement.

Russian air defences downed 10 Ukrainian drones over Crimea on Friday morning and suppressed three more with electronic countermeasures, according to the Russian defence ministry.

It comes just one day after Russia blew up a Ukrainian Black Sea port hours after confirming ‘peace talks’ with Turkey.

Vladimir Putin’s forces targeted Ukraine’s main inland port across the Danube River from Romania, damaging equipment and destroying around 40,000 metric tonnes of grain which was bound to Africa, China and Israel.

It was a move that sent global food prices even higher as Russia ramps up its use of force to prevent Ukraine from exporting grain.

Following the strike, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the ‘world must respond’.

He posted on Telegram: ‘Russian terrorists have once again targeted ports, grain facilities and global food security.’