Ukraine hit the Novorossiysk naval base and left the tankers alone

Ukraine's overnight strike reached Russia's relocated Black Sea Fleet base while the reported target set stayed inside Kyiv's agreement with Washington to spare pipeline infrastructure and qualifying non-Russian tankers.

Ukraine struck the Novorossiysk naval base overnight with Palianytsia jet drones, Neptune missiles and uncrewed surface vessels, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday, per Ukrainska Pravda. He claimed confirmed hits on air defense positions, piers and seaport infrastructure at a base more than 300 kilometers from the front.

Zelensky described Novorossiysk as the Russian fleet's last major Black Sea stronghold. The fleet moved ships into the port after Ukrainian attacks forced them out of Crimea, Militarnyi notes.

NASA FIRMS satellite data recorded fires around the Sheskharis oil terminal, where tankers load crude, the same outlet found. The data also showed a thermal signature near the naval base and petroleum storage tanks. Sheskharis terminates Transneft's main oil pipelines and has an annual design capacity of 75 million tonnes, plus 1.28 million cubic meters of storage.