An unmanned Ukrainian maritime drone slammed into a naval ship at a major Russian port on the Black Sea on Friday, as Kyiv continued its assault against far-flung military infrastructure helping to sustain the Kremlin’s war effort.

The strike on the Russian ship in the port of Novorossiysk, a key naval and shipping hub hundreds of miles from Ukrainian-controlled territory came hours after a separate attack by aerial drones on a Russian port in occupied Crimea, and demonstrated the expanding ability of Ukraine’s fleet of air and sea drones to pierce even well-defended Russian targets.

The New York Times verified multiple videos and photographs showing a damaged Russian warship in the port of Novorossiysk. The visuals show the vessel, a Ropucha-class landing ship, seemingly listing, with damage in the middle of its port side, while tugboats try to bring it into the port. The ship is the same type as the one seen under attack in a video captured by a naval drone.

Three Ukrainian officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters, said the attack was a joint operation of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Navy. One of the officials said the Russian ship Olenegorsky Gornyak, a landing vessel that can carry heavy cargo and military vehicles, was damaged in the strike.

The Russian ministry of defence insisted that the attack had caused no damage and that all of the drones had been neutralised, claiming that two crewless surface vessels were shot out of the water before reaching the base.

Movement of ships at the port in Novorossiysk was temporarily halted, the Russian state media said, citing the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, a group that manages oil exports through the port.

In a separate assault before dawn, the Russian naval port in Feodosia, on the Crimean Peninsula, was attacked by long-range aerial drones, the Russian defence ministry said. It claimed to have shot down 10 Ukrainian drones. Publicly, Ukraine did not claim responsibility for the attack in Novorossiysk, with a Ukrainian Navy spokesman saying it had “nothing to do” with it. Kyiv has maintained a policy of ambiguity about attacks in Russia.

Ukraine was less circumspect about the assault in Crimea on Friday. Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian military, said the Russian Black Sea Fleet uses a large oil storage facility at the port in Feodosia, and “therefore, we should continue to expect explosions there”.

New York Times News Service