Russia says Ukraine attempted to attack Russia's Black Sea base

The Russian Defense Ministry said Friday that two Ukrainian unmanned boats attempted to attack the Russian naval base in Novorossiysk, a major Black Sea port, but were destroyed by Russian ships.

"Tonight, the Ukrainian armed forces attempted to attack the Novorossiysk naval base with two unmanned sea boats. During the repulsion of the attack, the unmanned boats were visually detected and destroyed by fire from the standard weapons of the Russian ships," the ministry said.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which loads oil onto tankers in Novorossiysk, said its infrastructure was not damaged by the attack and the oil loading is going on as usual.

A temporary ban on ship movements in the port has been imposed, it said.

The consortium has a pipeline system that connects Kazakhstan with a seaport in Novorossiysk, where oil is loaded onto tankers for shipment to world markets.