Eight Kalibrs that won’t reach Ukraine: Ukrainian Special Operations Forces struck Russian missile corvette at Primorsk

Russia's Karakurt-class missile corvette at Primorsk port — Russia's largest Baltic oil export terminal — was carrying its full load of eight Kalibr cruise missiles when Ukrainian forces hit it overnight on 3 May 2026, together with a patrol boat, a shadow fleet tanker, and the terminal's infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a follow-up disclosure on the Primorsk strike.  

The Special Operations Forces (SSO) confirmed the ship was carrying its full load of eight Kalibrs with a range of up to 2,000 km, plus a sea-based Pantsir-M anti-aircraft missile and gun system. Pantsir-M was integrated only from the third ship of the series onward. The corvette was deployed at Primorsk specifically to defend the oil terminal from Ukrainian drones, according to SSO.

What Ukrainian forces hit, and what was on the ship

Acting head of the SBU, Major General Yevhenii Khmara, reported the results to the President. Zelenskyy thanked the personnel of the SBU, the Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS), the Special Operations Forces, military intelligence, and the border guards for the coordinated operation. The strike sites are roughly 900-1,000 km from Ukraine's border.

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Ukrainian forces also struck a Russian patrol boat and a tanker of Russia's shadow oil fleet. The oil terminal itself sustained "significant damage" to its infrastructure, Zelenskyy said.

"Each result of ours like this restricts Russia's war potential. I have approved additional, fully justified responses by the Security Service of Ukraine to Russian strikes on our cities and villages," Zelenskyy said.

He added that Russia could end its war "at any moment" and that prolonging it would only mean Ukrainian defensive operations scaling up further.

Earlier today, Ukraine's President reported that SBU's naval drones also struck two Russian shadow fleet's tankers in the Black Sea.

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Karakurt-class ships

Ukraine has been hitting the same class of Russian warship since 2023. In November 2023, the Karakurt-class ship Askold was critically damaged by Ukrainian Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles at the Zaliv shipyard. In May 2024, the Karakurt-class Tsyklon was sunk by ATACMS ballistic missiles in the occupied Sevastopol port.

After those losses, Russia pulled its remaining Black Sea Karakurts — Amur and Tucha — to the Caspian Sea, Militarnyi noted. In October 2025, Russia moved the Amur further still, transferring it to the Baltic Sea via the Volga-Don Canal. As of February 2026, Russia planned to build 16 ships of this class: six were in service, six were under construction afloat or being prepared for transfer, and two more were under construction.