Photo: CyberBoroshno/Telegram
According to the OSINT community CyberBoroshno, the Russian frigate Admiral Essen was damaged in Novorossiysk Bay during a drone attack on the night of March 2. Satellite images of the incident have also been published.
Analysts concluded that the strike affected the ship’s midsection superstructure. “The attack caused the detonation of PK-10 grenade launchers, mounted on the superstructure for deploying passive countermeasures such as dipole reflectors and thermal decoys,” the report states. The satellite imagery also shows damage to the TK-25 electronic warfare (EW) system and the ZR-90 “Orekh” target illumination radars. The TK-25 is used to detect enemy radar emissions and deploy active electronic countermeasures, while the radars provide guidance for the ship’s surface-to-air missile system during the final phase of target engagement.
Analysts also suggest that the debris may have damaged the ship’s main surveillance radar, Frigate-M2M, which is responsible for long-range detection of air and surface targets.
The Admiral Essen, a Project 11356R “Burevestnik” frigate, was launched in 2014 and is part of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Since 2022, it has participated in missile strikes against Ukraine and is armed with 3M14 “Kalibr” cruise missiles. In summer 2023, the SBU reportedly attempted to strike the frigate using naval drones.
On the night of March 2, Ukrainian drones from the SBU Special Operations Center “Alpha” attacked military vessels and six oil storage units at the Sheskharis oil terminal in Novorossiysk, over 340 kilometers from Ukraine. The strike also hit a Pantsir-S2 anti-aircraft missile and gun system and a 30N6E2 radar of the S-300 PMU-2 “Favorit” SAM system located in the port.
