KYIV, Aug 12: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday said Ukrainian forces carried out a “unique” overnight operation targeting Russia’s major naval base at Novorossiysk on the Black Sea coast, using anti-ship missiles, aerial drones and sea drones.
Zelenskyy said the attack targeted the naval base, described by Kyiv as the last major stronghold of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, damaging air-defence systems, piers and other port infrastructure in the Krasnodar region.
Russian authorities said hundreds of Ukrainian drones targeted several areas of the region overnight. Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed its air-defence forces intercepted and destroyed more than 500 Ukrainian drones.
Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said an eight-year-old child was killed in Novorossiysk, while another person injured when a house was hit in the Temryuk district later died in hospital. Twelve other people were also wounded, he said.
Kondratyev added that drone debris fell on four industrial facilities and 21 residential buildings, though officials did not provide details about the extent of damage.
Novorossiysk is also home to a major international oil terminal, including the Grushovaya oil transshipment complex, one of southern Russia’s key hubs for crude oil and petroleum products.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium operates a pipeline linking Kazakhstan’s Caspian coast with Novorossiysk. The route carries a significant portion of crude exports from major Kazakh oil fields in which US energy companies Chevron and ExxonMobil have stakes.
Meanwhile, in Crimea, which Russia claims to have annexed, Russia-appointed Sevastopol head Mikhail Razvozhayev said air defences shot down 115 Ukrainian drones overnight. He said 10 apartment buildings and 25 private houses were damaged.
The strikes came as Ukraine also faced another wave of Russian attacks. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 138 long-range strike drones, along with an unspecified number of missiles, during the night, with damage reported at 16 locations.
In southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, a large-scale Russian drone attack killed two people and injured two others, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
Authorities also reported that a shopping mall in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia was destroyed in the Russian attacks.
The latest exchange of strikes comes amid continued fighting between the two countries, with diplomatic efforts to seek an end to the conflict yet to produce a settlement.
