Ukraine Says Underwater Drones Hit Submarine, Russia Denies Damage

Ukraine said on Monday it hit and disabled a Russian missile-carrying submarine docked at a Black Sea naval base using underwater sea drones for the first time, but Moscow denied the strike caused any damage.

The attack with Ukrainian-made "Sub Sea Baby" drones hit the submarine in the port of Novorossiysk where Russia has rebased many of its Black Sea naval vessels to put them out of reach of Ukrainian strikes, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.

Footage published by the SBU showed a powerful explosion erupting from the water at a pier near where a submarine and other vessels were docked. Reuters confirmed the location of the video using the port's layout and piers.

Alexander Kamyshin, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wrote on X that it was the first time in history that an underwater drone had neutralised a submarine, a claim rejected outright by Russia's Black Sea Fleet hours later.

"None of the ships or submarines of the Black Sea Fleet stationed in the bay of the Novorossiysk naval base, nor their crews, were damaged as a result of the sabotage and are on duty as normal," the fleet was quoted as saying by state news