Ukraine appears to have launched its largest-ever drone attack, with reports of explosions at two major Russian ports.
In a message posted on Telegram, the Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses on Thursday evening intercepted 51 drones over Crimea, 44 drones over the Krasnodar region and six drones over the Kursk region.
It also said its naval aviation and Black Sea Fleet patrol boats destroyed six unmanned surface vessels, or USVs, in the Black Sea.
This would represent a total of 102 aerial drones and six naval drones shot down in a single night and, if true, would be the largest drone attack in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began. in February 2022, according to the kyiv Independent.
Business Insider was unable to independently verify these figures.
Independent Russian media outlet Astra, citing its own sources and footage, reported that drones struck at least two oil depots and two terminals in the port city of Novorossiysk and nearby villages on Thursday evening.
Residents of Novorossiysk told the media outlet that more than 35 explosions occurred in the city, causing power outages. The outlet shared several videos of what appeared to be the explosions.
The media outlet also shared a photo of a burning refinery in Tuapse, east of Novorossiysk.
Veniamin Kondratyev, the regional governor, said Russian air defense forces shot down more than 10 drones over Novorossiysk on Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, Russian forces shot down dozens of drones and more than five maritime drones at the port of Sevastopol last night, and drone debris hit the city’s substation and caused power outages, a declared Mikhail Razvozhaev, the regional governor installed by Russia, in a message on Telegram. .
A video shared by Astra appears to show explosions in Sevastopol. BI was unable to independently verify the images contained in the reports.
Ukraine’s security service SBU and Ukraine’s intelligence agency GUR launched a joint operation to strike Russian military and logistics facilities in Novorossiysk and occupied Sevastopol, the Associated Press reported, citing an unnamed Ukrainian intelligence official.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian warships in occupied Crimea, inflicting significant losses on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and forcing it to relocate some maritime activities to Novorossiysk.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, head of the British armed forces, said in February that 25% of Russian ships in the Black Sea had been sunk or damaged.
The fleet was “functionally inactive” after Ukraine claimed it hit two of its ships in March, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said at the time.
Satellite images from April shared by the British Ministry of Defense show Russia improving the defenses of its Black Sea Fleet naval base in Novorossiysk, confirming that most of its ships and submarines have been moved more to the East.
Ukraine’s GUR did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.
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