Satellite images show damage to Russian naval base after Ukraine says it hit submarine with underwater drone

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on Monday released a video of the attack on the Ukrainian-made Sub Sea Baby drone. It shows a calm harbor with several ships before the camera view pans to the left to show a massive explosion that kicks up water and debris.

“The submarine suffered critical damage and was taken out of service,” the statement said, adding that the target was a Kilo-class submarine equipped with four Kalibr cruise missile launchers that Russia used to strike Ukraine.

The attack was a joint operation of the SBU and the Ukrainian Navy, the statement said.

NBC News was able to verify the location of the video posted online by the SBU and that the attack likely took place Sunday or Monday, but not the specific target or the extent of the damage.

Alexander Kamyshin, advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, posted on X that this was the first time an underwater drone had destroyed a submarine.

Russia has denied the attack caused any damage.

“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 in service normally,” the fleet was quoted as saying by state news agencies.

“The real question is how the system got into position undetected, acquired and tracked its target,” Benjamin Jensen, a senior fellow at the Department of Defense and Security’s Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in an email response to questions from NBC News.

Ukraine and Russia have used drones extensively – and effectively – during this nearly four-year war, the first conflict in which drones have been used on such a scale.