Seven aerial and two navy drones have been neutralized near the Crimean Peninsula, the Defense Ministry has said
Moscow’s forces thwarted a major Ukrainian drone raid on the key Russian naval base of Sevastopol in Crimea, the Defense Ministry has said, adding that the attack did not cause any injuries or damage.
The statement from the ministry on Sunday followed an earlier report by Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev, who spoke about a “massive and prolonged” raid on the city. According to the ministry, “the Kiev regime [attempted] to carry out a terrorist attack” in Crimea, which involved seven aerial and two naval semi-submersible drones.
Officials said that Moscow’s forces successfully repelled the attack, with two drones taken down by air defenses far from the coastline.
Another five unmanned vehicles were suppressed by electronic warfare measures and crashed, failing to hit their targets, according to the statement. In addition, Russian coast guard patrol boats detected and destroyed two Ukrainian unmanned motorboats in the northern part of the Black Sea, according to the ministry.
Later in the day, Razvozhayev said that another aerial drone had been jammed by electronic warfare, adding that the Russian fleet scrambled to destroy the fallen aircraft.
Several unverified videos posted on social media appear to show Russian naval forces firing from automatic weapons at a fast-moving target in the water.
Amid the conflict with Russia, in recent months, Ukraine has targeted various facilities in Crimea with drone and rocket strikes. Earlier this month, Ukraine launched a missile at the Crimean Bridge, which links the peninsula with mainland Russia, but failed to do any damage, according to the Defense Ministry.
Responding to the incident, Valery Gerasimov, the head of the Russian General Staff, ordered the military to “take additional measures to improve the protection of facilities from air strikes as soon as possible.”
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