Ukraine claims first Sea Baby underwater drone strike on Russian submarine
Ukraine’s Security Service said its underwater drones hit a Russian submarine in the port of Novorossiysk on Dec. 15, the first such attack it has reported, knocking the vessel out of service.
The agency said it used Sea Baby naval drones to target a Varshavyanka-class — a subset of the Kilo class — submarine that carried four launchers for Kalibr cruise missiles, which Russia has used to strike Ukrainian cities and infrastructure since the outset of the full-scale war.
The strike was conducted jointly by the 13th Main Directorate of Military Counterintelligence of the SBU and the Ukrainian Navy.
"The ship suffered critical damage and was effectively out of service," the SBU wrote on Telegram.
According to the agency, the submarine is estimated to be worth approximately $400 million, but due to international sanctions, the cost of constructing a replacement could rise to $500 million, it said.
The SBU added that the submarine had been docked in Novorossiysk after earlier successful strikes by Ukrainian surface drones had forced the Russian Black Sea Fleet to largely withdraw from Sevastopol and other ports in occupied Crimea.
Another submarine of the same class, Rostov-on-Don, was reportedly destroyed in Sept. 2023 buy a Ukrainian missile strike on the Sevastopol shipyard.
According to the SBU, the Rostov-on-Don became the first submarine in history to be destroyed by a cruise missile.
Given Ukraine's lack of a traditional navy after almost its entire fleet was either destroyed or scuttled in the first days of the full-scale war, Kyiv's ability to deny Russian ships' use of the Black Sea with sea drones has been a major narrative victory over Moscow.
Constantly expanding and modifying its sea drone fleet for over three years since the first combat use at scale, Ukraine has damaged or destroyed countless high-value targets, including helicopters in flight.
The SBU's operations in the Black Sea, together with those of the military intelligence agency HUR, are part of Ukraine’s broader strategy to undermine Russia’s military capabilities and disrupt its ability to launch missile strikes against Ukrainian territory.
