Russia says it repelled a Ukrainian drone attack overnight from Friday to Saturday on its fleet in Crimea. She would be there “more massive” of the conflict according to the region’s pro-Russian governor.
The Russian army announced on Saturday that it repelled a massive drone attack on its fleet in Sevastopol Bay, in annexed Crimea, and that all the machines had been shot down. She blamed the attack on Ukraine and Britain and which damaged a ship.
“No facilities in the city were affected. The situation is under control”indicated the pro-Russian governor of the city, Mikhail Razvojayev, specifying that it is “the most massive attack by drones and pilot surface vehiclesed from a distance on the waters of the Bay of Sevastopol in the history» of the conflict in Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported to him “minor damage” on the minesweeper vessel Ivan Goloubets, as well as on the bay containment boom.
According to Moscow, the attack involved “nine unmanned aerial vehicles and seven autonomous maritime drones” and targeted ships that are taking part in the security of convoys responsible for exporting Ukrainian cereals thanks to an agreement concluded under the aegis of the UN and Turkey. “The preparation for this terrorist act and the training of the military personnel of the 73rd Ukrainian center for special maritime operations were carried out by British specialists based in Ochakov, in the Mykolaiv region of Ukraine”the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
Crimea, annexed in March 2014 by Russia after an intervention by its special forces and a affiliation referendum denounced by kyiv and the West, serves as headquarters for this fleet and as a logistics rear base for the Russian offensive in Ukraine. Military and civilian installations have been targeted there several times in recent months.
Multiple Attacks
Attacks targeting Crimea have increased in recent weeks as Ukrainian forces advance on the southern front towards the city of Kherson, turned into a fortress by the Russians awaiting the inevitable assault.
On Thursday, Mikhail Razvojayev announced that the Balaklava thermal power plant had been targeted by a drone attack which had not caused major damage or casualties.
In August, he reported a drone attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol without causing any casualties, after a first strike a few days earlier that injured five people.
Elsewhere on the ground, the Ukrainian military reported fighting in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the east, including near Bakhmout
An airfield and a military base were also victims of explosions in August in Crimea, attacks for which Ukraine ended up recognizing responsibility several weeks after the fact.
At the beginning of October, it was crimean bridgekey infrastructure for the peninsula that connects it to Russia, inaugurated at great expense by Vladimir Putin in 2018, which was damaged by the explosion of a truck bomb.
Elsewhere on the ground, the Ukrainian military reported fighting in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions in the east, including near Bakhmout, the only area where Russian troops have advanced in recent weeks, and shelling in several others. regions.
New prisoner exchange
Pro-Russian separatists fighting alongside Moscow have announced a new prisoner swap with kyiv involving 50 people on each side.
On the southern front, artillery battles raged in the village of Kobzartsi, the last town on the Ukrainian side before the line of contact with the Russians. “It could go wrong there. But we know that they suffer much more on their side than on ours.assured a Ukrainian soldier, Oleksiï, in his twenties.
Both sides prepare in this area for the battle for the city of Khersonthe regional capital, from where the occupation authorities have evacuated tens of thousands of civilians, whom Ukraine has described as “deportations”.
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