Russia seeks to defend port in Novorossiysk after Ukrainian strikes on Sevastopol

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UK Defence Intelligence has indicated that Russia is trying to protect its facilities in the port city of Novorossiysk from Ukrainian attacks.
A satellite image of the entrance to the port of Novorossiysk posted on X indicates that it is now partially blocked by barges to reduce the likelihood of a breakthrough by Ukrainian uncrewed surface vessels.
UK Defence Intelligence noted that after a series of successful Ukrainian strikes on the port city of Sevastopol, Novorossiysk has become critical to protecting the most valuable assets of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
The agency noted that Viktor Sokolov, former Commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, was replaced after Ukrainian successes in using uncrewed surface vessels against Russian targets both at sea and in the port.
His successor, Vice Admiral Sergei Pinchuk, has likely tried to increase the chances of survival of Russian warships by taking additional preventive and defensive measures, including narrowing the entrance gap to port facilities, UK Defence Intelligence added.
Jon Hemler, lead analyst for military aerospace and weapons systems at business intelligence firm Forecast International, said Ukraine’s successful use of uncrewed surface vessels for one-way attacks against Russian ships in the Black Sea over the past 18 months is certainly a factor in advancing the technology. However, the development of the robotic vessels for defense purposes has been underway for well over a decade in some cases, particularly in the United States.
“Recent use of uncrewed surface vessels as naval weapons — like Magura V5s in Crimea and even Houthi rebels attempting uncrewed surface vessel attacks against U.S. ships in the Red Sea — are serving more so as accelerants to uncrewed surface vessels development,” he said