Ukraine’s SBU domestic security service has released new footage it says shows the country’s preparations for attacking a Russian submarine in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk earlier this month.
Why It Matters
The SBU said on December 15 it had struck a Kilo-class Russian submarine using underwater drones “for the first time in history.” The agency operates its SeaBaby waterborne drones and said modified underwater versions, referred to as “Sub SeaBaby” uncrewed vehicles, were responsible for targeting the submarine.
The submarine “suffered critical damage” and was taken “out of action,” the SBU said. Russia’s Black Sea Fleet denied the submarine had sustained damage.
What To Know
Ukraine struck a modernized Il-38N reconnaissance aircraft at the Yeysk air base in Russia’s Krasnodar region which “actively opposed the work of the SBU naval drones,” the agency said in a statement released on Tuesday. Novorossiysk, south of Yeysk, is on the Krasnodar coastline and one of Russia’s main bases for its Black Sea Fleet that has been repeatedly caught in Kyiv’s crosshairs.
The video shared by the SBU appears to show a brief generic clip of an Il-38N in flight before cutting to satellite footage appearing to show one of the aircraft visible on the tarmac at a Russian air base. The video then displays what appears to be a feed from a Ukrainian drone approaching a stationary Il38N aircraft.
The footage briefly shows a port area before an explosion rocks up from the water. The SBU said the video captured the moment it targeted Russia’s submarine in Novorossiysk. Newsweek could not independently verify the clip.
The spy agency said Russia had just one operational reconnaissance aircraft able to pick up the underwater drones as they homed in on the submarine. “The disabling of this anti-submarine aircraft ensured the successful execution of the main part of the special operation,” the SBU said.
Each Il-38N reconnaissance aircraft cost in the region of $24 million, the spy service said.
A spokesperson for the Black Sea Fleet said on December 15 Ukraine’s “attempt to carry out sabotage using an unmanned underwater vehicle did not achieve its objectives.” Satellite imagery released after the attack appears to show some damage to the Novorossiysk base but it is hard to discern how the Kilo-class submarine was affected.
Kyiv said in August 2024 its forces had destroyed Moscow’s Rostov-on-Don Kilo-class submarine in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Crimea. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and Kyiv has vowed to reclaim the peninsula. Many Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s military capabilities have focused on Crimea.
Despite having no large warships, Kyiv quickly succeeded in forcing the Black Sea Fleet to largely shift away from Sevastopol, further east in the Black Sea. Moscow had moved many of its vessels toward its Novorossiysk base.
Ukraine said this month the Kilo-class submarine in Novorossiysk hosted four launchers able to fire the Kalibr cruise missiles Russia has repeatedly fired at the war-torn country. The hull was crafted to absorb sound and dodge sonar detection, the SBU said.
The submarine came with a price tag of roughly $400 million, and would cost Moscow roughly $500 million to replace the vessel when adjusted for the impact of global sanctions on the Kremlin, the SBU said. The submarine is also referred to by its Russian classification, a Project 636 Varshavyanka-class vessel.
The SBU said it struck the submarine in a joint operation with the Ukrainian navy.
What People Are Saying
“None of the ships or submarines of the Black Sea Fleet stationed in the bay of the Novorossiysk naval base, as well as their crews, were damaged as a result of the sabotage and are serving as usual,” Russian Black Sea Fleet spokesperson, Alexei Rulyov, said on December 15.
“This aircraft is designed for maritime reconnaissance, submarine search, water area control, minefield laying and torpedo strikes,” Ukraine’s SBU spy agency said on Tuesday.
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