Friday, videos that were shared on social media seemed to show loud explosions at the port, which is a major place where Russian goods leave the country.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that two sea drones had stopped a Ukrainian attack on a military base there.
It said that Russian ships covering the outer harbor of the naval base had seen the drones and shot them down.
After the attack, the port stopped ships from going in or out for a while, according to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which fills oil tanks at the port.
Sea drones are small, robotic boats that work on or under the surface of the water.
At least 10 sea drone attacks have been done by Ukraine. These attacks have been aimed at military ships, Russia’s navy base in Sevastopol, and Novorossiysk harbor.
This is based on what Russian and Ukrainian officials have said and what local media have reported. Ukrainian defense department that sea drones were also used in an attack on the Kerch Bridge to Crimea in July.
How drone ships are changing the Ukraine conflict
Novorossiysk is one of the Black Sea’s largest ports. Russian state media say that reports of blasts have been confirmed by emergency services in the area and that security services have been told.
Ukraine hasn’t said anything about the killings in public yet.
In the last few weeks, there have been more fights at sea. This is because Russia broke a UN deal that made it safe for food to be shipped between Russia and Ukraine across the water.
This week, Russia struck the Black Sea ports of Odessa and Chornomorsk, where 60,000 tons of grain were destroyed, as well as ports on the Danube.
On Friday, Russia also said that it had shot down 10 Ukrainian drones in the air over Crimea.
