- Ukraine said it hit a Russian warship in the Black Sea in an attack that involved sea drones.
- Russia said it thwarted the attack, but videos posted to social media suggest otherwise.
Ukraine appears to have hit a Russian warship in an audacious attack involving sea drones deployed in the Black Sea.
Footage shared on social media Friday appears to show explosions at the Russian port of Novorossiysk.
A Ukrainian source told CNN a sea drone with 450 kilograms of TNT had attacked a Russian ship that had around 100 servicemen aboard.
It is the first time that a commercial Russian port has been targeted by Ukrainian drones since the start of the war 18 months ago.
Novorossiysk is far from Ukrainian-held territory, on the far side of occupied Crimea, making it a tall order for the Ukrainians to reach so far with an attack.
Russian officials acknowledged that an attack took place, though they claimed it had done no damage.
"Tonight, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with the use of two unmanned sea boats, attempted an attack on the Novorossiysk naval base of the Russian Armed Forces," the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Telegram on Friday, according to a translation by AFP.
It went on to say that other Russian ships destroyed the drones and that the attack was thwarted. But videos posted by Ukrainian officials on social media suggest otherwise.
In dashcam footage tweeted out by Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, a Ukrainian sea drone is seen approaching the Russian warship and slamming into its side, before the signal cuts off.
A video taken later seems to show the ship appears to be badly damaged post-attack, listing to one side as it is towed away.
It has not been confirmed what ship it was, though a source with the Security Service of Ukraine identified it to Reuters as the Olenegorkiy Gornya, a large landing ship that has about 100 crew members.
"As a result of the attack, the Olenegorsky Gornyak received a serious breach and currently cannot conduct its combat missions," the source told Reuters.
Insider could not verify the videos. Ukrainian officials have not commented on the attack, which is in keeping with their security policy.
Veniamin Kondratiev, the governor of the Krasnodar region where the base is located said there were no casualties.
—Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 4, 2023
The statement comes as Ukrainian attacks on Russia's Black Sea Fleet have increased in recent weeks.
Earlier this week, Russia's Ministry of Defense said it foiled another drone attack that was targeting patrol boats southwest of Sevastopol, according to AFP. A similar attack was repelled a week earlier.
Last week, Ukraine showed off its new sea drone for the first time, which packs hundreds of pounds of explosives and is faster than anything in the Black Sea, CNN reported.
A drone pilot codenamed "Shark" told CNN that the drone had been successful in stifling the Russian Navy's movements. It is unclear if it was this specific drone is responsible for the attack on Friday.