Russia's Ropucha-class naval landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak was damaged after Ukraine allegedly conducted a naval drone attack on the Russian Navy's Black Sea base in Novorossiysk Thursday night (August 3).
According to two sources reporting on the incident Friday (August 4), Russian forces have fended off the attack, but the ship itself was severely damaged, as per Reuters.
Novorossiysk is a civilian port that handles 1.8 million barrels per day, or 2% of the world's oil supply, as well as grain. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which operates an oil terminal in the port, said the port temporarily halted all ship movement before resuming operations. It added its facilities were not harmed when the attack happened.
Warship Badly Damaged, Sources Say
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a short statement that the Ukrainian attack by two sea drones had been repelled in the waters outside the base and was destroyed. However, it made no mention of the damage to the ship.
"Tonight, the armed forces of Ukraine attempted to attack the Novorossiysk naval base with two unmanned sea boats," it said. "In the course of repelling the attack, the unmanned boats were visually detected and destroyed by fire from the standard weapons of the Russian ships guarding the outer waters of the naval base."
On the other hand, a Ukrainian intelligence source said the Olenegorsky Gornyak suffered a serious breach in her hull and could not conduct combat missions after a joint operation by the Ukrainian Navy and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). The source added there was a crew of around 100 Russian sailors on the vessel when she was attacked by sea drones carrying 450 kilograms of TNT each, but no information was provided on any casualties.
Meanwhile, another source with knowledge of the port's operations said a large Russian naval vessel had to be towed ashore because she could not move under her own power after the attack. Oil and grain loadings were still taking place at the port when the attack happened, and resumed only after it ceased, the source added.
There was also unverified video footage of the alleged attack published on social media, which purported to show the damage done to the Olenegorsky Gornyak, with one of the videos seeing her listing heavily to port [left side of the ship].
The information provided by the sources could not be immediately and independently verified as of this report.
Novorossiysk official Andrei Kravchenko said on Telegram that the Olenegorsky Gornyak was one of two ships that had "instantly reacted" to fend off the Ukrainian attack.
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Black Sea Black Ops
The attack was part of the heightened tensions in the Black Sea after Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, with many nations who are on speaking terms with Moscow officials, such as Turkey, suggesting the Kremlin renew the deal.
Last week, an intelligence report from the British Ministry of Defense said the Russian Black Sea Fleet was positioning itself to blockade Ukrainian ports after Moscow pulled out of the grain deal the week prior.
Aside from the attack at Novorossiysk, the Russian Defense Ministry also said its forces repelled an attempted Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Ukrainian Intel: Russia Plans 'False Flag' Attack on Belarus Refinery
In a separate Reuters report, the SBU accused Russia Friday (August 4) of conducting a "false flag" attack at the Mozyr oil refinery in Belarus in order to blame Ukrainian saboteurs as part of an effort to draw Minsk into the war in Ukraine.
In a statement on Telegram, the intelligence service added the staged attack would be carried out by military and intelligence forces disguised as Wagner Group mercenaries who were exiled after staging a mutiny in Russia in June.
The SBU added its assertions were based on information obtained from several sources, including a captured Russian serviceman.
There was no immediate comment on the Ukrainian statement from either Moscow or Minsk.
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