The scope of Ukrainian pressure on the Russian interior is expanding, this time from the Black Sea gate, after unmanned boats targeted the Sochi port area in southern Russia, amid reports of explosions and heavy smoke, while Ukrainian sources spoke of a ship linked to the oil and gas sector being hit without official Russian confirmation.
According to a report by journalist Eli Leon in the Israeli newspaper “Maariv”, local reports and Ukrainian surveillance networks reported that a Ukrainian attack using unmanned boats targeted the Sochi port area in southern Russia on the Black Sea coast this Thursday morning.
Residents of the city reported hearing at least two powerful explosions in the central Sochi area, before thick smoke was seen rising from the port.
According to Ukrainian reports, one of the unmanned boats hit a ship named “Nefrit,” which is used in activities related to the oil and gas sector at sea.
According to the report, video clips posted on social media showed two points from which smoke was rising in the port area.
However, there has yet to be official confirmation from Russian authorities that the ship was indeed hit, nor has the Ukrainian military officially claimed responsibility for the attack.
On the other hand, Russian local media reported that defense systems responded to suicide boats that approached the coast.
Following the attack, people in the port area were asked to leave the place and move to safe areas, while emergency and firefighting teams were called to the site, and the police kept civilians and tourists away from the coastline.
In the first phase, no information was reported about any casualties, while the extent of the damage is still being assessed.
Ukrainian reports also claimed that military ships and a Pantsir air defense system were present inside the port, but it has not been verified that any of them were the target of the attack.
The hypothesis that a ship linked to the oil and gas sector was hit falls within the ongoing Ukrainian effort to target Russian infrastructure related to energy, logistics, and exports.
The attack on Sochi came after a night that witnessed widespread attacks using aircraft and unmanned boats against additional targets along the Black Sea coast.
Overnight, the Russian authorities imposed temporary restrictions on the operation of Sochi and Gelendzhik airports, as part of the measures taken to confront the threat.
The attack reflects the expansion of the naval confrontation in the Black Sea, after Ukraine repeatedly used unmanned boats in recent years to target Russian ships and infrastructure, at a time when Moscow is trying to strengthen the protection of its ports, strategic facilities, and export lines in the region.
Sochi is known mainly as a tourist city, and it also includes one of the residences of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but in recent years it has also become within the scope of Ukrainian attacks.
The current attack comes at a time when Kiev is escalating its pressure on the Russian interior, in an attempt to show that facilities relatively far from the front lines, especially along the Russian coast in the Black Sea, are no longer immune from targeting.
