The ATESH partisan movement stated that its agents conducted a series of sabotage operations in the Novorossiysk area prior to the Ukrainian Defense Forces' strike on the "Grushevaya Balka" oil depot on the night of May 23. This was reported on the movement's Telegram channel, according to UNN.
Details
According to ATESH, agents disabled several communication towers that provided coordination between Russian air defense units and damaged a transformer substation that powered a portion of military and communication facilities.
ATESH claims Russian air defense was "blinded"
The movement asserts that due to the lack of power supply, stationary radar stations lost stable operation, and the Russian air defense system could not respond in time to low-flying targets.
UAV reconnaissance on the immediate approaches to Novorossiysk was effectively blinded
The movement also identified "Grushevaya Balka" as the largest oil storage facility in the Caucasus, with a capacity of 1.2 million tons of petroleum products, used for the storage and transshipment of fuel for military equipment and the logistics of the Russian army in the south.