Ukraine’s internal security agency SBU said on Monday that it had attacked a Russian submarine in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, severely damaging it and rendering it virtually unnavigable.
The SBU said in a statement that the operation, which used underwater drones called Subsea Baby, was the first of its kind. A video shared by SBU showed a massive explosion at the port.
“As a result of the explosion, the submarine sustained significant damage and became virtually inoperable,” the SBU said. CNN was unable to independently verify this claim.
Russia acknowledged the Ukrainian attack but said it was a failure and no ships or submarines were harmed.
“The enemy’s attempt at sabotage using unmanned submarines did not achieve its objective,” state media quoted Black Sea Fleet Press Chief Alexei Lulev as saying. According to Russian media, Mr. Lulev denied Ukrainian reports that a submarine was destroyed at the Novorossiysk naval base.
According to a statement from the SBU, the Kilo-class submarines will be used to launch Kalibr cruise missiles and can fire up to four missiles at once. Russia has used missiles to attack Ukraine during the war.
The agency added that the submarine is known as a “black hole” because of its hull’s ability to absorb sound and remain undetected by sonar. A similar class of submarine costs about $400 million. Building a similar submarine could cost up to $500 million, the SBU said, as international sanctions prevent Russia from accessing technological components.
The SBU said Ukraine’s past successful maritime drone operations forced the ship to remain in Novorossiysk port and forced the Russian government to move a number of ships and submarines from the Sevastopol Bay in occupied Crimea.
Monday’s attack comes amid an ongoing diplomatic battle to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. The announcement was made shortly after the second day of talks between U.S. and Ukrainian delegations in Berlin.
At a press conference in Berlin on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kiev must have “absolute certainty” about how its allies will guarantee its security before making any decisions on the front lines of a potential peace deal with Russia.
Speaking alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Zelenskiy said any security measures should include ceasefire monitoring.
“That is actually the basis of security, because the question is: Who will carry out the surveillance? What sanctions will be applied if the surveillance mission is disrupted?” Zelenskiy said.
Mr. Zelensky said those questions were not yet answered, but Mr. Merz said the United States had provided “significant” assurances to Ukraine during the Berlin meeting.
“What the United States has provided here in terms of physical and legal guarantees is really important,” Merz said, without providing further details.
After entertaining European leaders late in the evening, Merz expressed optimism about the prospects for peace, writing in a post to X: “For the first time since the war began, a ceasefire seems possible.”
European leaders agreed on Monday night to commit to providing a European-led multinational force with U.S. support as part of Russia’s “robust security” agreement to end the war in Ukraine.
In a joint statement after their meeting in Berlin, the two leaders said the force would “support the regeneration of Ukraine’s military, secure Ukraine’s skies and safer seas, including operations inside Ukraine.”
He also said a “U.S.-led ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism” would be created with international participation to provide “early warning of future attacks” by Russian forces.
European leaders pledged to provide “sustained and significant” support to Ukraine’s military buildup and called for “legally binding commitments” to restore peace in the event of a future attack, including through force, intelligence and logistics.
The leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the European Union stressed the need for Ukraine’s security and said they would support any decisions taken by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy regarding Ukraine issues.
In a post on the X show Monday night, Zelensky praised his Sunday meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. He did not provide details, but suggested he felt “some things” in previous peace proposals were “destructive.”
“It is important that they are not present in the new version of the document,” Zelenskiy wrote. “This is important because dignity matters.” He noted that his country has a different position than Russia on Ukrainian territory and said the issue needed to be “discussed openly.”
“I believe that the U.S. side will act as a mediator and propose various measures to try to at least reach some sort of agreement,” Zelenskiy said.
