Naval drones attacked Russia's Novorossiysk, local authorities claim

Naval drones attacked the Russian port city of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea coast overnight on July 3, claimed the city's mayor, Andrey Kravchenko.

Russian Telegram channels said that residents heard sounds of explosions at around 3 a.m. local time. Ukraine has not commented on the claims, which could not be independently verified.

Novorossiysk has become a key port for the Russian Black Sea Fleet after successful Ukrainian strikes on occupied Crimea forced Moscow to pull out much of its naval forces from the peninsula.

Kyiv also carried out several successful attacks against the Novorossiysk port throughout the full-scale war, most notably in August 2023, when the Olenegorskiy Gornyak warship suffered heavy damage.

Kravchenko announced the end of the attack at 4:20 a.m. local time, saying that there was no danger for Novorossiysk inhabitants but without elaborating on possible damage.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its forces destroyed two Ukrainian naval drones heading in Novorossiysk's direction.

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The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov