Four Russian warships sustained varying degrees of damage during an attack on the naval base in Novorossiysk overnight on Aug. 12, Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Telegram.
According to the Ukrainian military, the strike hit two Project 11356R frigates, the Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen; an unnamed Project 21631 Buyan-M small missile ship; and the Project 22160 patrol ship Vasily Bykov. Russia has not commented on the reported damage, and the claims have not yet been independently confirmed.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) also said it struck a range of additional targets: a 30N6E radar station belonging to a Russian S-300 air defense system, a mobile firing group on one of the piers, the tunnel entrance at the Grushovaya oil depot, and infrastructure at three berths of the Sheskharis oil export terminal. The SBU said conventional drones, jet-powered Palianytsia drones, Neptune missiles, and strike systems launched from maritime platforms were used in the attack. Those claims also have not been independently verified.
Ukrainian monitoring Telegram channels including Exilenova+ published annotated satellite images of the base after the attack. The authors said they believed both frigates were likely damaged, along with an unnamed Project 266M minesweeper, the test vessel Viktor Cherokov, an unidentified Project 22160 patrol ship, and the reconnaissance ship Priazovye. They also said a strike may have hit an unidentified cargo ship and several ground infrastructure sites belonging to the 4th Submarine Brigade.
According to Reuters, the Aug. 12 attack halted operations at Novorossiysk’s two largest grain terminals — the Novorossiysk Grain Terminal and the Novorossiysk Grain Plant. Authorities said three people were killed, including an 8-year-old child, and 24 others were injured. Several residential buildings, educational facilities, and businesses were damaged. The Insider earlier reported a fire at the port coinciding with the introduction of a state of emergency in Novorossiysk.
The frigates Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen, each equipped with launchers for eight Kalibr cruise missiles, have been targeted by Kyiv’s forces before. In March, the Ukrainian military said both frigates had been damaged, and in April it reported a new attack on the Admiral Makarov in the port of Novorossiysk.
