Ukraine pounds Black Sea Fleet’s ‘last major stronghold’ while Putin flexes naval power in Pacific

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Wednesday to seize European vessels in retaliation if European countries begin seizing Russian merchant ships after Ukraine launched a major overnight attack on a key Russian Black Sea naval and commercial hub and Moscow staged large-scale war games in the Pacific.

The developments underscore a growing battle at sea: Ukraine is hitting one of Russia’s most important Black Sea naval and export hubs, while Moscow is warning it could seize European vessels and flexing its naval power in the Pacific.

Though the events are not directly linked, they show how the war is increasingly extending beyond the front lines into strategic ports and international shipping routes.

Ukraine hammered the port city of Novorossiysk in a massive overnight drone attack that put two major grain terminals out of operation, according to Russian industry sources cited by Reuters Aug.

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Novorossiysk is a major Black Sea export hub and also serves as a base for Russian warships that Moscow relocated there after repeated Ukrainian attacks on its Black Sea Fleet in Crimea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed responsibility Wednesday morning for an operation targeting the Novorossiysk naval base, calling it "the last major stronghold of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea." In a post on X, Zelenskyy said Ukraine used Palianytsia jet-powered drones, Neptune missiles and unmanned naval systems and claimed hits on air-defense positions, piers and port infrastructure.

UKRAINE LAUNCHES WHAT APPEARS TO BE ONE OF ITS LARGEST DRONE ATTACKS AGAINST RUSSIA: REPORT "The occupation fleet and all the infrastructure supporting it will not be safe as long as Russian aggression continues," Zelenskyy wrote.

The governor of Russia’s Krasnodar region said at least two people, including an 8-year-old child, were killed in the wider wave of attacks.

Novorossiysk Mayor Andrei Kravchenko said more than two dozen residential buildings, four businesses and educational facilities were damaged, and the city’s water supply was suspended.

Reuters reported that Chicago wheat futures rose roughly 3% amid concerns over potential disruptions to Russian grain exports.

Separately Wednesday, thousands of miles to the east, Putin appeared aboard the Russian missile cruiser Varyag near Sakhalin while observing Pacific Fleet exercises and issued a warning to European governments increasingly targeting Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.

The European Union has expanded sanctions against hundreds of vessels and detained some ships and their crews for checks, while some European governments are considering tougher maritime enforcement against vessels suspected of sanctions evasion, Reuters reported Wednesday.