Ukraine Damages Russian Submarine with Underwater Drones

Ukraine's security service announced on Monday that it had damaged a Russian submarine in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk using underwater drones, marking what officials described as the first combat use of such technology against a submarine. The operation targeted a Project 636 Varshavyanka-class diesel-electric vessel, known to NATO as an Improved Kilo-class submarine, which is equipped with Kalibr cruise missile launchers used in strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

The Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, stated that a unit working with the Ukrainian Naval Forces deployed domestically developed Sub Sea Baby underwater drones to carry out the attack. Video footage released by the SBU, geolocated to a pier in Novorossiysk by multiple independent verifications, showed a large underwater explosion near the moored submarine. Ukrainian officials said the blast caused critical damage, rendering the vessel inoperable for the foreseeable future. Shrapnel from the detonation also affected a nearby submarine, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet denied the claims, stating that the sabotage attempt using an...