The Ukrainian military delivered three strikes on the drilling platforms of Chornomorneftegaz located in the Black Sea, said the head of the Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov.
“The first strike was at 08:37 Moscow time, there were three strikes on three drilling rigs in total,” he said on the air of the Russia 24 TV channel.
According to the head of the republic, there were 109 people on the towers, 21 of them were evacuated.
“We had 109 people on the towers in the morning.
According to preliminary information, the first blow, respectively, on the first tower was the most critical.
For the rest, according to preliminary information, there are no wounded or dead, ”Aksenov specified.
He added that gas is supplied to the peninsula in the normal mode.
“At the instruction of the President of Russia, we have laid a gas pipeline from the mainland.
If now in emergency mode we suspend pumping, then there will be a supply from the mainland.
Gas completely replaces the entire volume.
That is, there are no risks in gas supply for Crimea,” the head of the republic said.
In addition, Aksyonov added that there are enough air defense systems in the region, the entire land part of the peninsula, including the Crimean bridge, is covered.
In his Telegram, he also said that the Ministry of Defense provides a rescue operation with the participation of patrol ships and aviation.
The Crimean authorities are in contact with the Ministry of Defense and the FSB.
© Chernomorneftegaz
Olga Kovitidi, a member of the Federation Council from Crimea, in an interview with RT noted that the consequences of the shelling of the platforms by the Armed Forces of Ukraine could threaten Ukraine, not Russia.
“Those three strikes that were inflicted on the platforms are on the conscience of Ukraine.
Platforms 71 km from Odessa - the explosion posed a greater risk for Odessa, and 111 km from Crimea to them.
The Ukrainian authorities know perfectly well which coast the field is located and who is at risk if it explodes, ”the senator noted.
She explained that the Odessa field has been developed since 2012 and consists of three platforms - BK-1, BK-2 and BK-3.
“The missile attack, which was launched at 08:37, hit the first platform, here we have three victims, two of them received severe burns and one shrapnel wounds to the legs.
There are no victims.
We are looking for seven people, rescue work is being carried out,” Kovitidi said.
She later told TASS that the number of victims had risen to five.
According to her, the strike on the second platform was delivered at 08:52 Moscow time, on the third - at 09:23 Moscow time.
“But the platforms were not damaged there, only the tops were blown away, there were no victims there,” the senator specified.
She confirmed that the Ministry of Defense is conducting a rescue operation.
Kovitidi added that development at the field will not be suspended, gas from the pipes has been released.
“And the work was suspended only during the strike, which made it possible to avoid catastrophic consequences.
We are filling the Glebovskoye field with gas, in addition to it, there are still reserves, and the gas comes from the mainland, so there is no risk, the gas is supplied in the normal mode, ”concluded the senator.
Ambassador of the Lugansk People's Republic in Russia Rodion Miroshnik called the attack by the Ukrainian side on drilling platforms state terrorism.
“This is a deliberate breaking through of the bottom, counting on a very specific reaction,” Miroshnik wrote in the Telegram channel.
According to RIA Novosti, a week before the impact, the Black Sea area where the drilling platforms are located was photographed by American commercial satellites.
According to the agency, Worldview-1, Worldview-2 and Worldview-3 satellites photographed the area where the drilling platforms are located on June 11, 13 and 14, respectively.
Shelling of Donetsk
On June 20, Ukrainian troops also fired several times at Donetsk and several other settlements in the DPR and LPR.
According to the DPR representative office at the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire, the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired six 155-mm shells at the Petrovsky district of Donetsk.
Another six shells of 122 mm caliber were fired at the Kuibyshev district of the city.
In addition, Ukrainian forces fired 12 122mm shells at Troitsky and six 152mm shells at Gorlovka in the DPR.
The settlement of Panteleymonovka was also subjected to shelling.
“Fixed shelling from the side of the VFU in the direction: 14:45 (coincides with Moscow time) - the settlement of Novgorodskoye - the settlement of Panteleymonovka: ten shells of 152 mm caliber were fired,” the representative office said.