Ukraine Strikes Novorossiysk Port and Breaks S-400

November 15, 2025November 19, 2025

Undoubtedly, today, the most media-loud event, given its unexpectedness and significance, was the attack on Novorossiysk port. This strike demonstrated that even Russia’s most protected commercial infrastructure is now within Ukraine’s reach. Sevastopol was a profitable asset for yesterday’s or even the day before yesterday’s war. Moreover, the Orcs¹ realized that Sevastopol’s value as a naval base within the framework of modern warfare has been completely lost. Sevastopol was a profitable asset for yesterday’s or even the day before yesterday’s war. In contrast, Ukraine strikes Novorossiysk signals a shift toward targeting infrastructure that still holds real strategic value today.

Why Sevastopol Became a Liability

In modern warfare, Sevastopol turns into a suitcase without a handle. It has no outstanding functionality. On the contrary, significant efforts are needed to cover it from air and sea. Understanding this precisely played its role in withdrawing the unfinished remnants of the Pidars’² flotilla to Novorossiysk.
Sevastopol is essentially a black hole for resources. We’re talking about costs not only for maintaining the base but also for its defense. At the same time, there’s no profit from Sevastopol except for the force component. But to use it, you need to provide powerful air and sea cover. And these are not one-time but constant costs.

But Novorossiysk is the largest export hub of the southern part of the Swamps. At its oil terminal, tankers load crude oil and petroleum products. This gives the budget significant foreign currency revenues. In a country with an exclusively raw material form of economy, protecting such assets is a matter of life and death. Therefore, they’ll cover them maximally — approximately like Khuilo’s³ hole. If the port is already covered and will be covered all the time, then military ships can and should be hidden precisely there. The same means can cover both military and commercial infrastructure.

There’s another reason — the distance to the territory of Ukraine controlled by the Armed Forces. The greater it is, the more time to deploy anti-aircraft or anti-ship strike means.

November 14 Strike Details

On November 14, 2025, Ukraine strikes Novorossiysk seaport. Probably, we’re talking about the Sheskharis terminal. It’s the end point of Transneft’s pipelines and has strategic significance for exporting Russian oil and petroleum products through the Black Sea. As a result of the attack, oil loading berths at the piers, pipeline infrastructure, and pumping units were damaged. A strong fire continues at the oil terminal.

It’s clear that burning everything there in one go won’t work. If the ability to pump oil and petroleum products to the terminal through external pipelines has been preserved and the tank farm survived, then shipment can be restored fairly quickly according to a temporary scheme. But returning what was lost will be difficult.

After conducting this operation, information became known about the destruction of a whole series of the enemy’s anti-aircraft means that covered the target area. Our military managed to strike key radars of the S-400 system and several launchers. According to some data, also a storage facility for anti-aircraft missiles. Hits on positions of the S-300/400 anti-aircraft missile system on the territory of military unit 1537 were confirmed. After the “arrivals,” a powerful detonation was recorded.

Breaking the Shield

As a result, Ukraine demonstrated that Novorossiysk port became a practical target and that this location’s defense can be breached. The enemy received a clear signal that hiding behind a civilian port won’t work anymore. In addition, the enemy now understands that the air defense umbrella under which the remnants of their Black Sea flotilla hid has significant shortcomings. The Orcs try not to talk about the fact that next time something might already fly at the military ships’ parking area. But this is already a matter of time.

After some interval, something similar will repeat. There’s no doubt that it will repeat. The only question is which assets will be hit next time — military or commercial? The Orcs now understand that they themselves determined the war’s format. There will be no more closed topics. If they pound whatever they want, then they should prepare for something similar. Ukraine strikes Novorossiysk was that trigger — the moment that removed the last restrictions which, for some reason, still hung on Ukraine, although it’s the war’s victim, not the aggressor.

¹Orcs – a common term for Russians who support or participate in the armed aggression against Ukraine. Dehumanizing? Yes. Accurate? Also yes.

²Pidar (pronounced “pidar”) – Ukrainian military slang for an enemy combatant. In radio communications, the word “Pidar” sounds shorter and clearer than “Enemy” especially under EW.

³Khuilo – the most popular nickname for Russian dictator V. Putin. First used during the 2014 invasion, and since 2022 most Ukrainians call him only that. See more on Wikipedia.