Ukrainian drone forces struck the Russian frigate Admiral Essen at the port of Novorossiysk overnight on May 22-23, marking the fourth separate attack on the same warship since early March. In the same operation, Ukrainian drones also hit a Project 1239 missile hovercraft and two major oil terminals at the Novorossiysk port complex, the largest petroleum storage facility in the Caucasus.
The Fourth Strike on a Kalibr-Armed Frigate
The Admiral Essen is a Project 11356R Burevestnik-class guided-missile frigate armed with 3M14 Kalibr cruise missiles, a Shtil-1 surface-to-air system, and a 100mm A-190 naval gun. Built in 2014 and assigned to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, it participated in missile strikes on Syria in 2017 and has been used in attacks on Ukrainian territory since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. Drone operators from Ukraine's 1st Separate Centre of the Unmanned Systems Forces attacked the Admiral Essen near its berth at Novorossiysk's naval base overnight. The extent of the damage from Thursday's strike has not yet been determined.
Previous strikes had already degraded the frigate. A March 2 attack damaged the ship's central superstructure and onboard radar components. An April 6 strike hit the bow section near the A-190 gun, affecting anchor handling and auxiliary compartments and raising concerns about potential damage to the submarine-detection sonar below the waterline. Open-source analysts assessed after the April strike that the Admiral Essen may have lost the ability to leave port under its own power, a critical concern because Russian warships typically move offshore before launching cruise missiles.
"You're doomed to sink one day, you scabby old rustbucket. You can't hide." — Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, Commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, May 23, 2026
A Missile Hovercraft and 1.2 Million Tonnes of Fuel
The night's operation extended far beyond the frigate. Ukrainian forces from the Magyar's Birds unit, part of Ukraine's 414th Separate Brigade of the Unmanned Systems Forces, also struck a Project 1239 Sivuch missile hovercraft during the raid on Novorossiysk. The Project 1239 is a missile-armed corvette on an air cushion, equipped with supersonic Moskit anti-ship missiles, an Osa-M air defense system, and 76mm and 30mm deck guns. Two ships of this type serve in Russia's Black Sea Fleet, the Bora and the Samum. Ukraine did not specify which vessel was struck.
Drones from the 1st Separate Centre and the Kairos Battalion also struck both terminals of the Novorossiysk Sheskharis oil complex and the Grushovaya Balka oil storage facility. Commander Brovdi described the Grushovaya Balka complex as the largest petroleum reservoir in the Caucasus, holding 1.2 million tonnes of fuel. The same overnight operation also hit an Osa air defense system in occupied Donetsk, a rear logistics base in Rovenky in occupied Luhansk Oblast, a UAV ground control station in occupied Kherson Oblast, and fuel tankers and armored vehicles in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Ukraine's Navy on a Budget, Winning Anyway
Ukraine has no traditional surface navy. Russia destroyed or captured most of it in the early days of the 2022 invasion. In its place, Ukraine built a force of maritime strike drones and long-range UAVs that has now driven Russia's Black Sea Fleet from its Sevastopol home base and forced it to reconsolidate around Novorossiysk, hundreds of kilometers to the east. That consolidation has made Novorossiysk a recurring target: a concentration of naval assets, export energy infrastructure, and logistics throughput on the eastern Black Sea coast.
The Admiral Essen has now been struck four times in 83 days. Each strike has reached a vessel sitting at its berth in a port that Russia considered safe enough to rebase its fleet to. A warship that may be incapable of leaving port under its own power, whose radar and hull have been repeatedly hit, poses no meaningful threat. The same overnight operation also struck a missile hovercraft capable of 45-knot speeds, two major oil terminals, an air defense system, and a logistics hub, simultaneously, in a single night.
The Admiral Essen has not been confirmed as destroyed. Four strikes in 83 days on a vessel that open-source analysts believe can no longer leave port unaided means that whether or not it sinks, it is unlikely to return to active operational use in this war.
Sources
- United24 Media: "You Won't Hide" — Ukraine Strikes Russian Warship Admiral Essen for Fourth Time
- Ukrainska Pravda: Ukrainian Forces Strike Russian Frigate Admiral Essen in Novorossiysk Once Again
- Militarnyi: Ukrainian Forces Destroy Frigate Admiral Essen and Small Missile Hovercraft During Attack on Novorossiysk
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