Warships arrive for the Navy Day celebration in Novorossiysk, Russia, Sunday, July 31, 2022. (AP)

The Russian Defense Ministry announced in the early hours of Friday that it has foiled an attack by Ukraine, which targeted the Novorossiysk Russian naval base with two unmanned boats.

The statement, published by the ministry, read that "this night, the Ukrainian armed forces attempted to attack the Novorossiysk naval base with two unmanned sea boats," adding that the boats were "visually detected and destroyed by fire from the standard weapons of Russian ships guarding the outer raid of the naval base."

The attack comes days after Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the annual Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg, where he said that Russia is continuing to increase its naval force, with 30 new vessels set to enter service this year alone.

Putin, during the processions, emphasized that Russia has been bolstering its naval force in recent years, stating that "this year alone, 30 ships of various classes have joined its ranks."

"Among those that have taken up combat duty is the Mercury missile corvette. It’s named after the immortal feat of the crew of the legendary brig. Almost two centuries ago, it single-handedly defeated two battleships," he said.

The attack was completely thwarted as Krasnodar Region Governor Veniamin Kondratyev noted via Telegram explaining that there the Ukrainian attempted attack left no casualties, and made no material damage to the base.

Russia's counterattack in Donetsk: Ukraine loses 380 Soldiers

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that its forces responded with counterattacks in the Donetsk region on Thursday, resulting in significant casualties for the Ukrainian troops, with up to 380 soldiers lost in the last 24 hours.

The Ukrainian forces, on the other hand, persisted in their attempts to launch offensives in multiple directions, including Donetsk, South Donetsk, Kupyansk, and Krasnyi Lyman. In the Donetsk area alone, Russia successfully repelled eight separate attacks by the Ukrainian side.

"After repelling the attacks, Russian troops counterattacked the retreating enemy and improved the position along the front line in the areas of the settlements of Berestove, Krasnohorivka, and Marinka of the Donetsk People's Republic. During the past day, the enemy’s losses amounted to 380 Ukrainian servicemen, one tank, five armored combat vehicles, four vehicles, two Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery mounts, as well as the Rapira anti-tank gun," the ministry said in a statement.

In the South Donetsk direction, the Ukrainian forces suffered losses of up to 175 soldiers, one tank, and two M777 howitzers, the statement added.

The Russian Defense Ministry also stated that the Ukrainian military incurred losses of around 110 soldiers in the Krasnyi Lyman direction and approximately 150 soldiers in the Kupyansk direction.

"In the Kupyansk direction, the assault detachments of [Russia’s] western grouping of forces carried out offensive operations on a wide front and took up more advantageous positions in the areas of the settlements of Olshanske, Pershotravneve in Kharkiv Region and Kuzemivka in the Luhansk People’s Republic," the ministry concluded.