Ukraine launches attack on Russian Black Sea energy facility in Novorossiysk

Ukraine Launches Attacks on Russian Energy Infrastructure

The Ukrainian military has reported striking a Russian warship and a drilling rig in the Black Sea. The attack targeted the Admiral Makarov missile carrier in Novorossiysk, Russia’s largest oil exporting outlet on the Black Sea.

According to reports, at least eight people were injured in Novorossiysk, including two children. Videos posted on Telegram showed a fire at one of the oil port’s docks in the city. The Mayor of Novorossiysk said debris from drones had fallen on two locations in the city, including a residential area.

Russia’s military reported downing 148 Ukrainian drones over a three-hour period. Emergency crews were restoring power to nearly half a million households affected by air attacks. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s terminal, which exports oil from Kazakhstan, was also targeted.

The Kremlin has confirmed that Ukrainian drones attacked the CPC terminal, causing damage to mooring, loading, and storage infrastructure. Russia’s defence ministry stated that the attack was intended to inflict maximum economic damage on the terminal’s largest shareholders, energy companies from the United States and Kazakhstan.

This incident comes after a series of attacks on Russian energy facilities by Ukraine. The Ukrainian military has intensified its efforts to disrupt Russia’s export revenues, which are seen as crucial for funding its war effort. In recent days, Ukrainian drones have struck Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Primorsk and the NORSI oil refinery in the central Nizhny Novgorod region.

In a separate incident, Russian overnight drone attacks hit energy infrastructure in Ukraine, resulting in the deaths of two women and a toddler in the southern port city of Odesa. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that over 2,800 attack drones were launched by Russia against Ukraine in the past week alone.

Source: Al Jazeera