Sept. 10, 2026
In brief: Ukrainian forces struck at least three Russian naval vessels and fuel-oil storage facilities in Novorossiysk on Wednesday, the General Staff said. A separate overnight attack caused a fire at the Makhachkala port, a key hub on Russia’s logistics route with Iran.
Ukrainian forces struck at least three Russian naval vessels in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk and attacked a key Russian port on the Caspian Sea, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Thursday.
An analysis of additional information confirmed that the Wednesday attack on Novorossiysk hit the small minesweeper Zheleznyakov, the Admiral Essen frigate, and the Project 11711 large landing ship Pyotr Morgunov.
Fuel-oil storage facilities at the port in Russia’s Krasnodar region were also hit, according to the military.
Novorossiysk is a major Russian naval and commercial port on the Black Sea. Russian warships armed with cruise missiles have operated from the facility during Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
From Wednesday night into Thursday, in a separate operation, Ukrainian forces struck the Makhachkala Commercial Sea Port in Russia’s Republic of Dagestan, the General Staff added.
A fire was recorded at the facility after the attack, with Ukrainian authorities saying they were still assessing the damage.
The Ukrainian military described Makhachkala as Russia’s only ice-free deep-water port on the Caspian Sea and an important transportation and logistics hub.
According to the General Staff, the port plays a key role in a Russia-Iran logistics corridor across the Caspian Sea that Moscow uses to circumvent Western sanctions.
Ukraine’s military said the route is used to transport military supplies in both directions. It alleged that components and Shahed-type attack drones are delivered from Iran to Russia, while Russia sends explosives, drone components, and ammunition to Iran.
The claims about cargo transported through the port could not be independently verified.
Additionally, base of Russia’s Caspian Flotilla is located near the port, the General Staff said.
Ukrainian forces have increasingly targeted Russian naval bases, military facilities, and logistics infrastructure as part of Kyiv’s campaign against assets used to support Moscow’s invasion.
“Operations against the enemy’s key military targets continue,” the General Staff said.
Ukrainian forces struck eight Russian infrastructure facilities supporting Moscow’s war effort in a sweeping campaign stretching from the Arctic to the Caspian Sea, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday, Sept. 10.
Facilities in the Moscow, Voronezh, Astrakhan, and Bryansk regions also came under attack.
“Russia continues its terror against Ukraine every day. And every day it receives a just response,” Zelensky said.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/84220