Ukraine’s military intelligence strikes Admiral Essen missile carrier at Novorossiysk naval base

The attack was carried out by the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine's Active Operations Department in coordination with other units of the Defense Forces.

The strikes caused a fire on the ship's superstructure.

The Admiral Essen is a carrier of Kalibr cruise missiles, which Russia regularly uses to strike Ukraine's civilian infrastructure.

Strikes on Novorossiysk

Ukraine's Defense Forces struck the Novorossiysk naval base in Russia's Krasnodar Krai overnight on Wednesday, Sept. 9. The attack destroyed several Russian vessels, including missile carriers.

Novorossiysk also came under a massive drone attack overnight on Aug. 12. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the operation as unique, saying the Defense Forces simultaneously used Palianytsia, Peklo and Bars missile drones, a Long Neptune missile, nine types of drones, and Sarhan and Mamai uncrewed surface vessels for the first time. The targets were more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the front line.

According to the General Staff, the attack struck the Project 11356 frigates Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen, both Kalibr missile carriers, as well as a Project 21631 Buyan-M small missile ship and the Project 22160 patrol ship Vasily Bykov.

The CyberBoroshno OSINT project reported that the Defense Forces also struck the port's grain and oil terminals. The attack halted operations at all three of the city's grain terminals: the Novorossiysk Grain Terminal, NKHP and KSK, which have a combined transshipment capacity of about 26.1 million metric tons of grain per year.