Russia reports an attack by naval drones on Novorossiysk

4 August, 2023 An explosion near a settlement near Novorossiysk, Russia, 4 August 2023. A frame from the video On the night of Friday, August 4, Novorossiysk of the Krasnodar Krai of the Russian Federation was attacked by naval drones.

Telegram channels of the aggressor country and propaganda media reported on the event. The explosions occurred in the water area near the Russian city, therefore the movement of ships was temporarily suspended in the port. Eyewitnesses also published photos and videos from the scene on social networks.

According to them, around five in the morning local time, the sounds of gunfire and explosions were heard in the harbor area. Subsequently, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation made a statement on an alleged attack by two unmanned naval boats on the Novorossiysk naval base.

The Russians traditionally blamed the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the attack on the Russian Navy base. They claim that the naval drones allegedly destroyed Russian ships guarding the external raid of the naval base with fire from standard weapons. Initially, it was reported that the explosions were heard in the area of Yuzhnaya Ozereevka, eight kilometers from Novorossiysk, where the offshore oil terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium is located. The public of the aggressor country reported that surface targets were fired upon.

Later it became known that automatic rounds were heard in the area of the harbor and the village of Myshako near the entrance to the bay of Novorossiysk. One naval drone was allegedly hit.

According to public reports, the unmanned boat burned for a long time on the water, and then exploded. In the port of Novorossiysk, a temporary ban on the movement of vessels was introduced on Friday morning. This was announced by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, the owner of the oil terminal near Novorossiysk.

The Russian company said that the terminal was not damaged and continued to load oil. However, some Russian Telegram channels reported that according to local residents, the explosion occurred in the area near the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal.

Currently, there is no exact information whether any object was affected.

Novorossiysk is the main Russian trading port on the Black Sea and a naval base of the Russian Navy.