Ukraine Hits Russian Navy's Caspian Flotilla With Long-Range Drone Strike
Ukrainian forces have attacked a Russian naval base in the Caspian Sea for the first time, according to local authorities in the Russian province of Dagestan.
The Russian base at the port of Kaspiysk is far from the front lines of the war. The small seaport is located about 800 nautical miles east of Odesa, and it is home to Russia's Caspian Flotilla.
The strike targeted the Gepard-class missile frigates Tatarstan and Dagestan, according to Ukrainian intelligence agency HUR. Alexander Kovalenko, the head of Countering Disinformation at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, claimed that both of these vessels were damaged in the attack.
Videos circulating on Telegram and X appear to confirm that at least one drone struck a target within the naval base, though the extent of damage is not clear.
Reports appeard that two warships were hit in Russian Kaspiysk.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) November 6, 2024
The "Tatarstan" and "Dagestan" missile ships were reportedly damaged in a drone strike on the Caspian Fleet in Dagestan.
Small missile ships of Project 21631 Buyan-M were also damaged. https://t.co/B0Q9QBRJO9 pic.twitter.com/x06v45zlvz
The Gepard-class vessels are small missile frigates designed for patrol duties. They are equipped for either the Kh-35 antiship missile or Russia's modern multirole cruise missile, the Kalibr. Both Tatarstan and Dagestan have reportedly engaged targets far outside of the Caspian Sea using their cruise missile armament, striking targets in Syria - about 1,000 miles away - during the Syrian civil war in 2015.
Naval analyst H.I. Sutton identified the drone as a Ukrainian A-22 Foxbat, a large UAV based on a civilian ultralight aircraft design. The small planes have a payload of about 400-600 pounds in a civilian configuration, and the militarized version has been used to target Russian refineries in deep-strike drone operations.
Ukraine has repeatedly attacked the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet with drone boats and missile strikes, and it has effectively driven Russian surface combatants and submarines out of the Crimean peninsula. The majority of the fleet is now homeported in Novorossiysk, in the northeastern corner of the Black Sea, to avoid the risk of further attacks. Strikes on the distant Caspian Flotilla - which Russia has used repeatedly to launch cruise missiles - indicate that Ukraine's reach has grown.