Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence (HUR) says its special forces tracked and struck a Russian Black Sea Fleet vessel off Novorossiysk on 10 September, claiming the ship was disabled and will require costly repairs.

The agency released video purporting to show a Ukrainian-made attack drone hitting the target. The claim could not be independently verified at the time of publication.

According to HUR, the target was a Project MPSV07 multifunctional support ship. The agency said the drone hit the area of the ship’s bridge, where navigation and communications systems are located, destroying the vessel’s radio-electronic reconnaissance (RER) equipment and forcing it out of service pending repairs. Footage published by HUR appears to show a direct impact on the superstructure.

HUR said the vessel was conducting electronic reconnaissance and patrolling the approaches to Novorossiysk Bay at the time of the strike. Since sustained Ukrainian attacks on Sevastopol, Russia has based a significant portion of its Black Sea assets at Novorossiysk. Ukrainian officials characterised the engagement as part of an ongoing effort to disrupt Russian maritime operations along the eastern Black Sea coast.

The agency estimated the struck vessel’s value at around US$60 million and said Russia operates four ships of the MPSV07 class, introduced into service in 2015. Open sources list the class among Russia’s larger multipurpose rescue and support ships; examples include Spasatel Karev, Spasatel Kavdeykin, Spasatel Zaborshchikov and Spasatel Demidov.

The MPSV07 class is designed for a range of tasks including patrol and emergency duty in shipping areas, towing, firefighting, oil-spill response, seabed inspection and support to diving operations. The ships are equipped with diving complexes, remotely operated sub-sea vehicles and side-scan sonar; HUR also said the class carries RER systems. Ukrainian officials added that the vessel’s installed power is approximately 4 megawatts.

In its public statement, HUR said the strike was conducted with a domestically produced combat drone. In recent months, Kyiv has expanded the use of air and maritime drones to target Russian military infrastructure and vessels in the Black Sea region, publishing imagery from several operations. While Russian authorities had not issued an immediate response to the latest claim at the time of writing, Ukraine’s intelligence service has routinely released briefings following such actions.

Novorossiysk, in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai, has been a frequent reference point in reports of Ukrainian long-range and drone activity since 2023, reflecting the port’s role as a logistics hub and alternative basing area for Black Sea Fleet units. HUR framed the 10 September strike as targeting a platform used for electronic surveillance and patrol duties along the approaches to the bay.

Ukrainian outlets that relayed the HUR statement noted that the agency did not name the specific ship and that identification was being established. The Kyiv Independent reported that it could not verify the damage claims, a caveat common to battlefield reports given the restricted access and competing narratives of the parties to the conflict.

If confirmed, the disabling of an MPSV07-class vessel would mark a further attritional impact on Russian maritime capabilities in the northern Black Sea. Although conceived as rescue and support ships, MPSV07 platforms’ sensors and equipment make them useful for seabed survey, asset recovery and electronic reconnaissance—functions that can support wider naval operations. The loss of such capacity, even temporarily, would require reassignment of similar assets or acceptance of reduced coverage along critical sea approaches.

The incident follows a pattern of Ukrainian claims of successful strikes against Russian assets across the Black Sea theatre and occupied Crimea, including reported attacks on radar and air-defence sites. As with previous reports, corroboration typically emerges over time through satellite imagery, maritime tracking data and official acknowledgements. For now, HUR’s account places the engagement on 10 September in waters off Novorossiysk, with the video and written statement forming the basis of public evidence.