Ukraine for the first time struck a target in Russia\u2019s Dagestan region on Wednesday, according to local and Ukrainian officials, eyewitnesses, and Russian and Ukrainian media. The military port at Kaspiysk<\/a> on the Caspian Sea was attacked by Ukrainian drones about 670 miles from the front lines.<\/p>\n It is home to the Russian Navy\u2019s Caspian Flotilla and coastal troops, including marine forces, according to the independent Russian Astra <\/em>media outlet. \u201cThe flotilla has conducted missile strikes on Ukraine, and the 177th Marine Regiment has participated in combat operations in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions,\u201d the publication noted.<\/p>\n Ukrainian drones attempted to attack the main base of Russia\u2019s Caspian Flotilla in Dagestan\u2014eyewitness reports and footage from the scene confirm<\/p>\n According to open sources, this base houses coastal troops, including marine forces. The flotilla has conducted missile strikes on\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/N36PvBzLrm<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ASTRA (@ASTRA_PRESS) November 6, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n While both sides agree the port was attacked, the results are in dispute. Ukrainian sources say at least one Russian vessel was damaged while Russians claim all the drones were shot down before any ships were hit, but resulting shrapnel injured a teenager.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the first time during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a drone struck ships of the Caspian flotilla of the Russian Navy,\u201d Alexander Kovalenko, the head of Countering Disinformation under Ukraine\u2019s National Security and Defense Council, stated on Telegram<\/a>. \u201cLater, the media reported that in Kaspiysk, as a result of the strike, the combat ships of Project 11661<\/em> class ships Tatarstan<\/em> and Dagestan<\/em> were damaged.\u201d<\/p>\n The head of the Dagestan regional government had a different take.<\/p>\n \u201cThis morning, air defense forces destroyed an unmanned aerial vehicle over the Caspian Sea,\u201d\u00a0 Sergei Melikov said on Telegram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Video emerging from the scene indicates that neither point of view is fully accurate.<\/p>\n One video shows a drone, which appears to be a Ukrainian-made Aeroprakt A-22 ultralight aircraft converted into a one-way attack drone<\/a>, flying through the continuous crackle of air defenses, eventually exploding on impact among the vessels. Kovalenko claims the video shows the drone striking near \u201cthe mooring zone of a small missile boat of Project 21631<\/em> and a missile boat of Project 12418<\/em>, the only representative of which in the Caspian flotilla is Stupinets<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n However, it is hard to determine from the quality of the video if any ships were directly hit or suffered any damage.<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as I can see in the video, the decommissioned Tarantula<\/em> class Stupinets<\/em> corvette was not hit by a Ukrainian drone,\u201d a retired Russian Navy officer who uses @Capt_Navy Twitter handle told The War Zone<\/em>. \u201cIn any case, the ship has already been withdrawn from the flotilla, decommissioned in 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n BREAKING:<\/p>\n Ukraine launches a suicide drone swarm attack against the Dagestan region, Russia<\/p>\n Ukrainian drones are striking the main base of the Russian Navy\u2019s Caspian Flotilla, safeguarding weapons shipments from Iran.<\/p>\n It\u2019s 1000+ km from the frontlines pic.twitter.com\/BIhZBilVxw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Visegr\u00e1d 24 (@visegrad24) November 6, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Other videos, shot from different angles and further away, show the drone crashing in a ball of flames but with no apparent secondary explosions indicating a strike on munitions or fuel supplies.<\/p>\n Guys, don\u2019t get discouraged. Take a look at how the Russians \u201cshot everything down as usual and nothing happened.\u201d I know you love these kinds of videos.<\/p>\n Drone strikes on the Caspian Flotilla in Dagestan have damaged the missile ships \u2018Tatarstan\u2019 and \u2018Dagestan\u2019,- Ukrainian\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/wch7rrN2Mj<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Maria Drutska<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (@maria_drutska) November 6, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n The following video shows Russians running from the explosion.<\/p>\n Low-resolution satellite imagery collected after the attack does not appear to show much, if any damage to the port or ships, according to an open-source investigator who uses the @MT_Anderson Twitter handle. The satellite image, he added, also shows most of the vessels had been dispersed from the port at the time the image was taken.<\/p>\n Caspian Sea Flotilla<\/p>\n Sentinel 2<\/p>\n of the port of Kaspiysk on 6 November 2024 (07:57 UTC)<\/p>\n You can see the dispersal of the flotilla in the waters around Kaspiysk<\/p>\n Not seeing any obvious ship damage at the naval piers but will need higher resolution for any confirmation pic.twitter.com\/ArOpOp29jH<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MT Anderson (@MT_Anderson) November 6, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n In addition to the port being hit, the nearby Makhachkala airport temporarily suspended operations due to the drone attack, Astra<\/em> reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
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