Ukraine war latest: 3 Russian ships hit, 3 sailors killed in Ukrainian strike on Black Sea port, SBU source says
Key developments on March 4:
- 3 Russian ships hit, 3 sailors killed in Ukrainian strike on Black Sea port, SBU source says
- Russia continues to escalate drone attacks on passenger trains, railway infrastructure
- Putin increases Russia's regular army personnel to nearly 2.4 million
- Russian tanker on fire in Mediterranean Sea, Moscow accuses Ukraine of sea drone attack
Ukrainian forces struck the Russian port of Novorossiysk, hitting the minesweeper Valentin Pikul and "severely" damaging two anti-submarine ships, the Yeysk and the Kasimov, on March 2, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent.
The attack on the Black Sea port in southern Russia, which also killed three Russian sailors and injured 14 others, was carried out by the SBU in coordination with Ukraine's Defense Forces, the source said.
The fire in Novorossiysk's port lasted all night, according to the source.
The same strike also damaged six of the seven oil-loading berths at the major Sheskharis oil terminal, port infrastructure, a 30N6E2 guidance radar from an S-300PMU-2 Favorit system, and a Pantsir-S2 air defense missile system.
"There are no 'protected areas' for Russian military facilities. As long as Russia wages war against Ukraine, it will have no peace anywhere — neither at sea, nor on land, nor in the rear," the source said.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims at the time of publication.
Novorossiysk has become a central base for the Russian Black Sea Fleet after repeated Ukrainian strikes on occupied Crimea, increasing its importance as both a military and logistical hub.
Russia continues to escalate drone attacks on passenger trains, railway infrastructure
Russian drone strikes hit two passenger trains in Ukraine in one day, injuring a railway worker, Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction Oleksii Kuleba said on March 4.
The strikes come amid intensified Russian attacks on Ukraine's railway infrastructure since July 2025. Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) said on March 4 that since the beginning of March, Russia has launched 18 strikes on railway infrastructure, an average of six per day.
"Despite all this, Ukrzaliznytsia continues to monitor the airspace along train routes in cooperation with the military. If a threat is detected, railway workers change the train route, quickly evacuate passengers from the carriages, and take other safety measures," the company said.
In Mykolaiv Oblast, a Russian drone struck an empty train that had arrived for maintenance, and one worker of Ukrainian Railways was injured in the attack, Kuleba reported.
Kuleba later reported a strike on railway infrastructure in Odesa Oblast which injured two children and a railway worker.
Putin increases Russia's regular army personnel to nearly 2.4 million
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on March 4 expanding the Russian regular army to nearly 2.4 million personnel, according to a Russian legal acts website.
This is not the first time Russia has expanded its army since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Putin having signed a similar decree in September 2024.
Russia's regular army has grown to 2,391,770 personnel. Of these, 1,502,640 will serve as active-duty troops — 2,640 more than before, according to the March 4 decree.
The manpower balance remains strategically important as the Kremlin tries to sustain the war without full mobilization. Moscow continues to rely on contract recruitment and financial rewards to avoid the political backlash that followed the 2022 draft.
According to a decree issued in September 2024, the regular strength of the Russian army stood at 2,389,130 personnel, including 1.5 million active-duty troops.
Russia also moved from seasonal conscription in the spring and autumn to year-round conscription in 2026.
While conscripts are officially prohibited from serving abroad, reports suggest many are pressured into signing contracts with the Defense Ministry and deployed to fight in Ukraine.
Russian tanker on fire in Mediterranean Sea, Moscow accuses Ukraine of sea drone attack
A Russian-flagged liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker, the Arctic Metagaz, reportedly caught fire in the Mediterranean Sea, multiple media outlets reported on March 3.
Reuters reported, citing maritime sources, that the U.S., EU, and U.K.-sanctioned vessel was ablaze near the coast of Malta, while other outlets placed the incident closer to Libya's shoreline.
One source told Reuters that the fire may have been caused by a Ukrainian naval drone attack, although those reports have not been confirmed.
Russian state media TASS claimed on March 4, citing the Russian Ministry of Transport, that the gas tanker Arctic Metagas was attacked by Ukrainian sea drones.
The vessels is suspected of being part of Russia's so-called shadow fleet of tankers, consisting of ships that rely on opaque ownership, flags of convenience, and irregular shipping practices to move Russian oil despite Western restrictions.
