Ukraine's SBU Says It Struck Russian Missile Corvette Naro-Fominsk in the Gulf of Finland; Finland and Estonia Confirm Detecting a Strike
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said on November 11 that it had planned and carried out a drone strike in the early hours of that day against the Russian Baltic Fleet missile corvette Naro-Fominsk in the Gulf of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces and Estonian officials separately confirmed the same day that a Russian warship in the gulf had been struck and that an explosion and smoke had been observed aboard a Baltic Fleet vessel, though neither country named the ship or confirmed who carried out the attack.
According to the SBU's statement on Telegram, the strike was part of a wider overnight drone operation against oil export infrastructure at the Russian port of Ust-Luga in Leningrad Oblast. The Naro-Fominsk is a Project 21631 Buyan-M-class small missile ship, 74.1 meters long with a displacement of about 949 tonnes, fitted with an eight-cell vertical launch system for Kalibr cruise missiles and Oniks anti-ship missiles; it joined the Baltic Fleet in December 2023. The strike took place near Russian-controlled Gogland Island (Suursaari in Finnish), about 40 kilometers off the Finnish coast and 55 kilometers from Estonia. It was the first publicly reported Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian warship at sea in the Baltic. The SBU released no imagery of the strike and did not specify the extent of damage to the ship.
In Finland, a Finnish Defence Forces spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement that the military had detected "a strike" on a Russian warship in the Gulf of Finland area on November 11 and had monitored the situation since; Finland faced no immediate military threat, the security situation in the Baltic Sea remained stable, and the military declined to disclose the location, timing or method of detection. Markku Viitasaari, a Finnish defense ministry official, told Helsingin Sanomat that Finnish sensors had recorded flashes and smoke from the ship in international waters. Finland temporarily restricted parts of the airspace and sea areas in the eastern Gulf of Finland after the incident. Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said maritime traffic faced no threat.
In Estonia, Defence Minister Martin Herem told public broadcaster ERR that an explosion had occurred aboard a Baltic Fleet vessel at about 5:30 a.m. on November 11, after which the ship produced smoke and headed back toward St. Petersburg; he added that it could not yet be confirmed whether this was a Ukrainian attack or an accident aboard the ship. Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said preliminary information from the Police and Border Guard Board indicated that a group of drones had approached the Russian warship from Russian airspace; several drones also entered Estonian airspace that night, and NATO Baltic Air Policing fighters from Ämari air base monitored the incursions.
On the Russian side, Leningrad Oblast Governor Alexander Drozdenko confirmed that a drone attack had set fires in the Ust-Luga port area, injuring three workers, and said 150 drones had been shot down over the region that night. Russia has not confirmed that the Naro-Fominsk was hit. The extent of damage to the ship and whether there were any casualties remain unknown.
Reference: Yle (Finnish Broadcasting Company), ERR (Estonian Public Broadcasting), Helsingin Sanomat
(Source: Reuters)
Source: Reuters
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Photo: 图：俄军21631型「布扬-M」级小型导弹舰「奥列霍沃-祖耶沃」号，与「纳罗福明斯克」号为同级舰。Rumlin摄，CC BY 3.0，经Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Russian Project 21631 Buyan-M-class small missile ship Orekhovo-Zuyevo, a sister ship of the Naro-Fominsk. Photo by Rumlin, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
