Ukraine Says Underwater Drones Hit Submarine, but Moscow Denies Damage

Ukraine's Underwater Drone Strikes Russian Submarine

By Yuliia Dysa ‌and Tom Balmforth

KYIV, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Monday it hit and disabled a Russian missile-carrying submarine docked at a ‍Black Sea ‌naval base using underwater sea drones for the first time, but Moscow denied the strike caused any damage.

The attack with Ukrainian-made "Sub Sea ⁠Baby" drones hit the submarine in the port of Novorossiysk where ‌Russia has rebased many of its Black Sea naval vessels to put them out of reach of Ukrainian strikes, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.

Footage published by the SBU showed a powerful explosion erupting from the water at a pier near where a submarine and other vessels were docked. Reuters confirmed the ⁠location of the video using the port's layout and piers.

Alexander Kamyshin, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wrote on X that it was the first time in history that ​an underwater drone had neutralised a submarine, a claim rejected outright by Russia's Black ‌Sea Fleet hours later.

"None of the ships or submarines of ⁠the Black Sea Fleet stationed in the bay of the Novorossiysk naval base, nor their crews, were damaged as a result of the sabotage and are on duty as normal," the fleet was quoted as saying by state news agencies.

Ukraine, which has practically ​no naval fleet left, has used sea drones and missiles to harry Russia's large naval Black Sea Fleet and dislodge it from its perch in the port city of Sevastopol on the occupied peninsula of Crimea.

The diesel-electric submarine was one of many vessels that Russia was forced to move from Crimea to Novorossiysk in southern Russia, the SBU said.

The submarine is capable of carrying at least four Kalibr-type ​cruise missiles, ‍one of the workhorses of Russia's massive ​strikes that in recent months have inflicted serious damage to the Ukrainian power grid.

'TURNING POINT'

The strike comes amid a tense period of U.S.-brokered peace negotiations that have sparked fears among Ukrainians that they will be bullied to accept settlement terms with Russia that they see as tantamount to capitulation.

Ukraine has been trying to show it can inflict significant damage on Russia, especially after U.S. President Donald Trump said that Zelenskiy did not "have the cards" in the negotiations.

Ukrainian navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said the operation to hit a submarine - which he described as the hardest ⁠target to hit - marked "another turning point" in Ukraine's naval battle with Russia.

"This day once again upends the perception of the possibilities of naval combat in this war," he told Reuters.

It will be hard ​for Russia to repair the submarine as that would have to be done above water, which would mean the vessel would again be exposed to attack, he said.

Before Russia issued its flat denial, Pletenchuk said Russia had lost one of its four submarines stationed in Novorossiysk, three of which are capable of carrying Kalibr missiles.

Ukraine, which has been developing long-range drone ‌and missile capabilities to narrow the gap with Russia's large weapons arsenal, has been stepping up strikes on Russian oil, gas, power and military targets.

(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Additional reporting by Aaron McNicholas; Writing by Dan Peleschuk/Tom Balmforth; Editing by Alison Williams, Nia Williams and Alistair Bell)