Russia claims Novorossiysk attacked by sea drones, port temporarily closed to shipping traffic
Russia says it has closed the port of Novorossiysk in its southern Krasnodarsky Krai region after an alleged attack on a Russian naval base there, by what the authorities say were Ukrainian sea attack drones.
Witnesses told Russian media they heard explosions ring out over the port in the early hours of Aug. 4, and saw an intense fire and large plume of smoke rising over the port’s oil terminal.
Residents of the village of Yuzhnaya Ozereevka near Novorossiysk reported an explosion strong enough to set off car alarms, Russian Telegram news channel Mash reported, posting a video of a smoke plume over the Russian port.
Later, Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed that "two Ukrainian unmanned boats" had attacked the Russian naval base at Novorossiysk.
The ministry claimed that the unmanned boats were "visually detected, fired on, and destroyed."
Russia typically claims that it destroys all drones, airborne or seaborne, before they hit their targets. Russia and the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine have been regularly attacked in recent months by what are almost certainly Ukrainian attack drones, although Kyiv typically denies launching the attacks.
In the port of Novorossiysk, one of the largest ports of the Black Sea and Russia, a temporary ban on the movement of vessels was introduced, the company Caspian Pipeline Consortium (KPC) has announced.
KPC owns an oil terminal near Novorossiysk. The company's press service stated that the terminal had not been not damaged and was continuing to load oil onto moored tankers.
However, local residents said they believe that the explosion had been at the KPC terminal.
The alleged attack on the Russian port comes just two days after Russia attacked the Ukrainian port of Izmail, Odesa region, on Aug. 2. As a result of the Russian attack, an elevator, grain hangars, tanks of one of the cargo terminals, production, warehouse and administrative premises were damaged and destroyed.
Read also: Romanian President calls Russia’s attack on Odesa Oblast a war crime
The Ukrainian military’s South Operational Command following the attack stated that the enemy was deliberately trying to destroy port infrastructure on the Danube River, which Ukraine has been using to export grain following Russia’s abandonment of the UN-brokered grain initiative, which allowed Ukraine to export grain by three of its seaports.
After pulling out of the initiative on July17, Russia threatened to attack ships approaching Ukraine’s ports on the assumption that they would be carrying weapons to the country.
However, Russia also then began a bombing campaign against Ukrainian port infrastructure, attacking the country’s main port at Odesa in particular, suggesting that the Kremlin’s aim is to cripple Ukraine economically by preventing it exporting its crops.
Russia, which is also a major exporter of grain, would also benefit by preventing Ukrainian exporting its grain, as any drop in supply would raise prices for its own grain exports.
Russia has failed to carry through on its threat to attack ships approaching Ukrainian ports, with at least three ships having docked in the country, their approach having been monitored by NATO surveillance planes.
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