New Video Suggests Widening War for Russia – Ukrainian forces have carried out a number of drone strikes on Russian warships in the port of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula, but in the early hours of Friday, a Russian warship was targeted in the port of Novorossiysk, which lies across the Black Sea.
The port – which hosts a naval base, shipbuilding yards, and an oil terminal – is a key for Russian exports, handling two percent of the world’s oil supply as well as grain exports.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which loads oil onto tankers in Novorossiysk, had reported that its facilities had not been damaged and that oil loadings continued onto tankers that were already moored in the poor.
The Kremlin said that it had taken down 13 drones. However, the raid temporarily halted all ship movement.
The Security Service of Ukraine and the country’s small but still resourceful navy carried out the attack on Novorossiysk, according to an official with the security service, the Associated Press reported. The Project 775 landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak suffered a serious breach.
Video of the incident was shared across social media. A nearly 30-second-long clip, posted by Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons), showed the first-person-view drone – reportedly carried 450 kg of explosives – as it skimmed the sea and approached the warship under the cover of night.
The clip ends as the drone strikes the vessel.
Olenegorsky Gornyak Damaged
The extent of the damage to the warship is not known, but the 112-meter-long vessel was reportedly seen listing to one side in other videos and images shared on social media. The warship, which was originally built in 1974 in Gdansk, Poland, underwent a major five-year-long upgrade – first in Murmansk and later in the Russian Baltic City of Baltiisk.
Just before it began its upgrade, it accompanied the Russian Navy’s aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov to the Mediterranean as part of Russia’s military operations in Syria. It reentered service in 2019.
A total of 28 Project 775 (NATO reporting name Ropucha class) landing ships were built in Poland for the Soviet Navy during the Cold War. Each could carry 450 tons of cargo, and the ships have both bow and stern doors for loading and unloading vehicles, and the 630 square meters (6,800 sq ft) of vehicle deck stretches the length of the hull. Up to 25 armored personnel carriers can be embarked on the vessel. Though designed for roll-on/roll-off operations, vehicles can also be loaded using dockside cranes.
Three of the Cold War landing ships were upgraded, and these Project 775M (Ropucha II) vessels are reported to be equipped with improved defensive armament as well as greater accommodation for an increased number of troops. To date, around a dozen of the older vessels of the project have been retired.
Ukraine’s Naval Strikes
Despite not having any navy, Kyiv has successfully sunk the flagship of the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet and seriously damaged several other Russian warships in the course of the ongoing conflict. At least 11 attacks have been carried out with sea drones, including a past attack on Novorossiysk harbor.
Ukraine began to employ unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) last autumn, and that first assault occurred on October 29, 2022. A Russian Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate and mine countermeasure (MCM) ship were reportedly hit by the Ukrainian USV during the attack.
This is a developing story.
#Ukraine: Footage from the kamikaze USV that managed to severely damage the “Olenegorsky Gornyk” Project 775 large landing ship. As per the source, this was a joint SBU & Ukrainian Navy attack.
The drone is said to have carried 450kg of explosives. https://t.co/o3cRb5hc4z pic.twitter.com/Vs2gfnyPi2
— ???????? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) August 4, 2023
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs.
