Ukraine sinks Russian ship miles away from rumored Putin sea stronghold
Ukraine said one of its sea drones sank a Russian border patrol ship near Novorossiysk, expanding Kyiv’s pressure on Russian vessels across the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.
The Ukrainian Navy said the Sargan-3000 unmanned maritime system struck the Izumrud, also known as the Emerald, near Russia’s Black Sea coast. Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, operated the vessel, rather than the regular military. Ukraine said the strike killed and wounded crew members, but did not release a precise number.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the ship docked in Gelendzhik, a Russian resort town less than 15 miles from a luxurious compound that the late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny alleged was linked to President Vladimir Putin. Putin has denied owning the property.
Why the ship mattered
The Izumrud was not a major warship, but it carried symbolic importance and had practical value as an FSB border patrol vessel.
Ukraine’s Navy said the vessel took part in Russia’s 2018 seizure of three Ukrainian naval vessels in the Kerch Strait, the narrow waterway between mainland Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea. Russian forces captured Ukrainian sailors in that confrontation and later released them in a prisoner exchange.
The Ukrainian military said Russia launched the Izumrud in 2014 and that the ship measured about 205 feet long and had a helicopter landing pad.
Ukraine released satellite imagery that appeared to show the damaged ship broken in half near a quay wall. The Kremlin did not immediately respond to the Journal’s request for comment on the strike or the nearby compound.
Sea drones change the Black Sea fight
The strike shows how Ukraine’s naval drones continue to limit Russia’s freedom of movement at sea.
Kyiv has used sea drones to damage Russian warships, hit the Crimea Bridge, also known as the Kerch Strait bridge, and pressure Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet. The threat helped push Russia in 2023 to move parts of the fleet away from Sevastopol, the Crimean port that had long been its Black Sea hub.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the strike and noted that it happened about 270 miles from the front lines.
Ukraine also said it struck another tanker connected to Russia’s “shadow fleet,” the aging vessels Moscow uses to move oil and other cargoes despite Western sanctions.
The wider campaign
The Izumrud strike is part of a broader Ukrainian push against Russian shipping, fuel and logistics.
Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces said Tuesday that they had struck 11 Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov. Kyiv Post reported that the attacks brought the total number of ships hit during Operation MoLoChKa to 116 in nine days.
The campaign targets Russia’s feeder fleet, smaller tankers that move oil through the Volga-Don Canal and the Sea of Azov to larger vessels waiting in the Black Sea. Ukrainian officials say disrupting that fleet can affect Russian oil exports and fuel deliveries to occupied Crimea.
Turkey warns over shipping safety
The growing pressure on Black Sea shipping is also drawing regional concern.
Russian state media reported that a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would tell Ukrainian officials the war should not spread into the Black Sea and that strikes on ports and vessels, including fishing vessels, are unacceptable.
Turkey has sought to position itself as a mediator, with the source saying Ankara remains ready to bring the two sides together for talks. Fidan was expected to visit Ukraine on July 15-16 to discuss peace efforts and Black Sea shipping security.
Russia claims counter-drone gains
Russia has also claimed progress against Ukrainian unmanned systems.
Russia’s Battlegroup South said it destroyed more than 90 Ukrainian ground robotic vehicles, 184 drone control posts and 75 communications antennas or relay devices in the first half of July, according to TASS.
Those claims could not be independently verified.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
