According to UA.NEWS, on Thursday morning, residents of Sochi noticed smoke rising over the seaport. The Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+ reported that the port was attacked by naval drones — unmanned boats. The Ukrainian state agency "Ukrinform," citing OSINT analysis from ASTRA, reports that two separate smoke sources were identified in the area of the Sochi seaport based on videos published by eyewitnesses. There were also reports that one of the unmanned boats reached the shore and exploded directly in the port. The Ukrainian military portal "Militarnyi" conducted geolocation of the published photographs and videos and also concluded that the explosions occurred within the port area. One of the videos, according to the publication, captured the explosion of a naval drone near the pier. ## What Could Have Been the Target Among the possible targets is the Russian Pantsir air defense missile-gun system, the position of which, according to monitoring resources, was located near one of the explosion sites. Other potential targets mentioned include Russian patrol boats. Exilenova+ also suggested that the target could have been a multifunctional supply vessel used, among other things, in oil and gas operations. However, there is currently no confirmation that this particular vessel was hit. According to ASTRA, which studied satellite images, a military ship was previously located in the part of the port where smoke was observed. However, there is currently no independent confirmation of which specific objects were targeted and whether they were damaged. ## Sochi Airport Limited Operations In light of the attack reports, Russian Rosaviatsiya imposed temporary restrictions on the arrival and departure of aircraft at the airports in Sochi and Gelendzhik. This was officially explained as a necessity to ensure flight safety. Sochi is gaining additional significance for Russian military infrastructure in the Black Sea amid regular Ukrainian strikes on facilities in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk. As noted by LETA, Russia is forced to use Sochi as one of the bases for the Black Sea Fleet and border service ships. The port is also used as a logistics point for the delivery of material and military equipment. ### What is Known So Far Explosions and the appearance of smoke in the port area have been recorded in videos published by eyewitnesses. However, there is currently no reliable data on the extent of the damage. There is also no confirmed information regarding the targeting of the Pantsir, patrol boats, or other specific objects. Therefore, reports of possible attack targets should be considered preliminary at this time.
