Kremlin-installed authorities in Crimea said on Sunday that Ukraine launched a wave of drones over the occupied peninsula overnight, the latest in a string of incidents. reported incident. attack on Russian-held territory ahead of an expected Ukrainian counterattack.
Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Russian-appointed governor of the port of Sevastapol, the largest city in Crimea, said that “more than 10” drones were involved in the attack. At least three were destroyed or crashed, he said on messaging app Telegram, adding that there were no reports of damage.
His claims cannot be independently verified. And Ukrainian authorities, by policy, rarely comment on explosions behind enemy lines.
Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, is an important conduit for supplies and troops supporting the Russian occupation forces in southern Ukraine. Attacks and explosions there has increased in recent months, which military analysts say could help set the stage for a long-anticipated counter-offensive that Ukrainian officials say is in the final stages of preparation.
In the past two weeks alone, oil refineries and military bases on the peninsula have been targeted. Russian authorities have sought to downplay the attacks, but the Ukrainian military has said that at least one of the attacks was in preparation for their counterattack.
After a winter in which both sides gained little advantage in fighting concentrated in eastern Ukraine, each side is preparing for the next phase of the war. Ukraine is being powered by new supplies Western advanced military equipment, including tanks and armored personnel carriers arrived in the country. And Russian forces have dug new defensive positions and are redeploying troops in preparation for the expected counterattack.
Here’s what else is happening in Ukraine:
A deadly attack in Kherson
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said six Ukrainian mine disposal specialists were killed when they were fired upon by Russian forces while working in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian demining specialists are regularly killed and injured while attempting to clear mines, often planted by retreating Russian forces, but it is unusual for them to be the target of enemy fire. often. It is not clear in which area the incident occurred. The report cannot be independently verified.
“The State Emergency Service has lost part of its family,” its head, Serhiy Kruk, said in a Facebook post, saying a paramedic and another were also injured in the incident. attack. Experts removed 7,300 mines in the week to Saturday, the service said in a post on social messaging app Telegram.
The Ukrainian authorities have placed Kherson’s regional capital city under Weekend curfew for unspecified threats posed by Russian forces and to facilitate the unhindered work of law enforcement and the Ukrainian military.
Russia claims to have prevented an attack on a regional airport
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has accused Ukrainian intelligence of planning a drone strike on an airport in the country’s eastern Ivanovo region, state media reported on Sunday.
Russia’s state news agency Tass cited a statement from the FSB as saying that it had “prevented a plot to carry out an act of sabotage” using drones laden with explosives. , the predecessor of the Soviet Union, the KGB, said the attack was “mastermind” by Ukrainian intelligence, according to Tass.
Ukrainian authorities did not immediately comment on the claims, which could not be independently verified. FSB has been around for a long time suspiciously blames others for the crimes it commits. The allegations came days after the explosion in the Kremlin, which Moscow claimed was a drone strike to assassinate President Vladimir V. Putin, without providing proof. Ukraine has steadfastly denied involvement.
Enjoli Liston contribution report.
