Kiev claims damaging Russian Black sea naval ship in drone attack

A Ukrainian intelligence source says the Russian Navy's landing ship of Olengorsky Gornyak is damaged in a maritime drone attack carried out by the SBU security agency and the Ukrainian Navy near the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

"As a result of the attack, the Olenegorsky Gornyak received a serious breach and currently cannot conduct its combat missions," the source said on Friday.

Russia's defense ministry confirmed the attack in a short statement but said the attack had been repelled in the waters outside the base and that two sea drones had been destroyed by Russian warships.

The Ukrainian source rejected the Russian statements of repelling the attacks and claimed that Gornyak had suffered serious damage and could not conduct combat missions.

Ukraine has repeatedly used naval drones laden with explosives to attack Russian naval fleets that dominate the Black Sea, prompting Moscow to block Ukrainian grain exports through its favored export route.

Russia: Upcoming Ukraine-West summit in Saudi Arabia a 'sham'

Russia has said that a planned meeting on Ukraine scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia this week is intended to forge an anti-Russian coalition.

The attack came as Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited the frontline headquarters of the "Centre" army group involved in the Ukrainian conflict, thanking the officers and soldiers for "conducting successful operations" near Lyman.

During the visit, he was also shown a Swedish CV-90 infantry fighting vehicle that was abandoned by retreating Ukrainian troops after being hit by an anti-tank grenade, and Shoigu learned about the "shortcomings" of the Swedish model, according to Interfax.

Shoigu's visit came on the heels of a separate visit to the frontline by General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Army and Commander-in-Chief of Russia's military operation in Ukraine.

Russia has doubled its defense spending target in 2023 to more than $100 billion, according to a governmental document.

The document, cited by Reuters, shows that in the first half of 2023 alone, Russia spent 12 percent, or 600 billion rubles, more on defense than the 4.98 trillion rubles ($54 billion) it had originally budgeted for 2023.

Defense spending in the first six months of 2023 amounted to 5.59 trillion rubles, which is 37.3 percent of the total 14.97 trillion rubles spent in this period. In the Russian budget program, 17.1 percent of the total budget is spent on "national defense".

The Western support for Ukraine’s military has run into billions of dollars, led by Washington.

Russia says its objective of military operation is to demilitarize the breakaway Ukrainian regions with ethnic Russian populations.

Since the start of the war, the United States and Europe have slapped waves of sanctions on Moscow and have been assisting Ukraine with financial and military assistance. 

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