Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces announced on April 6 that they had successfully attacked the frigate Admiral Makarov in the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The commander of the force, Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, posted video of the strike on his Telegram channel, saying it was carried out on the night of April 5-6.
According to Brovdi, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) planned and coordinated the operation, which was executed by the Unmanned Systems Forces. “The extent of the damage is being determined by intelligence,” he said, adding that the self-elevating jackup drilling rig Sivash was hit as part of the same attack.
Brovdi initially wrote that the frigate which came under attack was the Admiral Grigorovich, but later updated the post. The Admiral Makarov, like the Admiral Grigorovich, is a Project 11356R frigate. Russia’s navy has only three such ships in service. The frigates are capable of carrying Kalibr cruise missiles, which are used in strikes on Ukraine.
The third Project 11356R frigate, the Admiral Essen, was damaged during an attack on port infrastructure in Novorossiysk on the night of March 2.
On April 6, Krasnodar Region governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported that the area had been under a massive Ukrainian drone attack since the morning of April 5. Eight people in Novorossiysk were injured, including two children.
