Ukrainian anti-ship missiles, jet-powered aerial drones, and sea drones targeted a major Russian naval base on the Black Sea coast during what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called a "unique" nighttime operation on Wednesday.
Kyiv has utilized advanced drones developed since Russia's invasion over four years ago to repeatedly strike Russian vessels in the Black Sea, including warships and oil tankers. Both nations possess Black Sea shorelines.
Ukrainian officials assert that Ukraine's uncrewed fleet has succeeded in restricting the movements of Russia’s previously dominant Black Sea navy, calling it one of the country's most significant wartime achievements.
However, Ukrainian officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to continue the invasion despite his larger army's slow and costly battlefield advances and ongoing diplomatic efforts by the U.S. toward a resolution.
Citing Ukrainian intelligence reports on social media late Tuesday, Zelenskyy stated that Putin is planning "an additional rapid mobilization of several hundred thousand Russians by the end of the year."
Those same reports have recently indicated that Russia is increasing production of ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones, both types of weaponry which are difficult for Ukrainian air defenses to counter.
Concurrently, Ukraine is working to increase its weapons manufacturing capacity through agreements with partner nations, as both sides appear set to continue fighting.
Ukraine Reports Hitting Black Sea Port Infrastructure
Zelenskyy stated in a Wednesday social media post that the Ukrainian military "carried out a unique operation targeting the naval base in Novorossiysk — the last major stronghold of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea."
He added that the attack impacted air defenses, piers, and other port infrastructure within the Krasnodar region city.
Krasnodar regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported that hundreds of Ukrainian drones attacked Novorossiysk, Anapa, Gelendzhik, and the Temryuk district overnight.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow announced that Russian air defenses shot down over 500 Ukrainian drones.
Kondratyev stated that an eight-year-old child was killed in the attack in Novorossiysk, and another person who was wounded when his house in the Temryuk region was struck later died in the hospital. He also mentioned that 12 other individuals in the region were injured.
According to Kondratyev, debris from downed drones landed on four industrial plants and 21 residential buildings, though officials provided no specifics regarding any damage.
Novorossiysk is also a site of a major international oil terminal. The Grushovaya oil transshipment complex near Novorossiysk functions as one of the largest transshipment hubs in southern Russia for petroleum products and oil.
Last February, the U.S. State Department voiced dissatisfaction regarding Ukraine's strikes on Novorossiysk, noting that these attacks affected U.S. oil interests in Kazakhstan.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium operates a pipeline running from the Caspian coast in northwest Kazakhstan to Novorossiysk. This pipeline handles a significant portion of crude exports from three major Kazakh fields where major U.S. energy companies, Chevron and ExxonMobil, hold stakes.
In Crimea, which was illegally annexed, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the city’s Russia-appointed head, reported that air defenses downed 115 Ukrainian drones over Sevastopol overnight, adding that 10 apartment buildings and 25 private houses sustained damage.
Russian Drone Attacks Kill Two and Damage Shopping Mall
Meanwhile, Ukraine's air force announced on Wednesday that Russia fired 138 long-range strike drones, along with an unspecified number of missiles, at Ukraine during the night. The air force reported damage across 16 locations nationwide.
In Ukraine's southern Kherson region, regional head Oleksandr Prokudin stated on Wednesday that a large-scale Russian drone attack overnight resulted in two fatalities and wounded two others.
Authorities also confirmed that the attacks destroyed a shopping mall in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia.