Ukraine Drone Strike Hits Russia’s Black Sea Port Of Novorossiysk

A large-scale overnight drone strike by Ukraine struck the Russian Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk on May 3, damaging the country’s largest grain terminal and several apartment buildings, according to Russian officials.

The attack triggered fires and forced authorities to declare a state of emergency in the port city, which is also home to the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Local authorities in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Krai confirmed that drones damaged three grain storage reservoirs at the KSK terminal, one of the region’s most important export facilities. The attack sparked a fire at the site.

The terminal, which can store up to 220,000 tons of grain and handled over 10 million tons in 2024, is operated by the Moscow-based Delo Group.

Delo Group released a statement on Telegram confirming the fire had been put out and said that clean-up work was ongoing. The company assured that the terminal was continuing to function in line with internal procedures and guidance from authorities.

Earlier, regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev stated that the grain storage units had been hit by drone debris, leading to the fire. He added that drone strikes had also caused fires in nearby areas, including Taman and Anapa.

The city’s mayor, Andrei Kravchenko, inspected the damage to three residential buildings and shared a video showing shattered windows, collapsed balconies, scattered debris, and a crushed vehicle.

He said five people had been injured in the attack, including two children. One of the injured- a woman was reported to be in serious condition and hospitalised.

Videos circulating on Russian social media showed drones crashing into high-rise buildings in the Aurora-2 and Crystal-5 residential complexes. Reports suggested that Russian electronic warfare systems jammed the drones, causing them to fall into residential areas.

Public transportation in Novorossiysk was suspended after the strikes, according to reports from Russian state media.

Elsewhere in the region, drones also targeted Rostov Oblast. The governor of the region, Yurii Slyusar, said drone activity was detected in Kamyansk, Oktyabrsky, and Novoshakhtinsk, where a major oil refinery is located.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed that it intercepted a total of 170 Ukrainian drones overnight. Of these, 96 were downed over Crimea, 47 over Krasnodar Krai, and nine over Rostov Oblast.

The ministry also said Russian forces shot down eight British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles, three Ukrainian-made Neptune cruise missiles, and 14 unmanned sea drones over the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Air Force said in a Telegram post that Russian troops had carried out a separate overnight attack on Ukrainian territory using 183 drones and at least two ballistic missiles. These strikes targeted several regions, including Donetsk, Kharkiv, Mykolayiv, and Sumy.

The drone strikes in Novorossiysk follow a series of similar attacks. Just days earlier, on April 28, explosions and a large fire were reported at an oil depot in the same city. Analysts who track open-source intelligence said Ukraine was likely behind that attack as well.

Reference: Reuters, Bloomberg

Source: Maritime Shipping News