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Russia, Sevastopol in September 2023: Smoke over the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet after a Ukrainian missile attack
Photo:
Sergei Malgavko / ITAR-TASS / IMAGO
According to the Russian military, Ukraine has attacked the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula and the city of Sevastopol with missiles. The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine used 20 cruise missiles. Of them, 17 were intercepted over the Black Sea and three more over the Crimea. The information could not be independently verified.
Debris from the intercepted bullets fell on a military site near the village of Lyubimowka north of Sevastopol, the statement said. The large Russian air base at Belbek is located there - but its name was not mentioned. "No aircraft was damaged," said the Ministry of Defense. The consequences of the attack were also downplayed in messages from the Russian-appointed city chief of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razwoshayev. Rocket debris fell into an allotment in Lyubimovka, he wrote on Telegram. Twelve buildings were damaged, but not badly: "Broken windows, broken fences and things like that." Nobody was injured.
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According to unofficial reports from Crimea, the attack caused major damage. Smoke could be seen both in the south and in the north of Sevastopol, the Telegram channel “Krymski Weter” reported. In the north of the city, a thick cloud is rising near the Belbek military airfield. Explosions were also reported in the area of the Russian military air base at Saki near Yevpatoria. Accordingly, numerous Russian fighter planes took to the sky to avoid being hit on the ground.
Ukrainian media also picked up on this information. Confirmation of the attack by the military in Kiev was initially pending. Ukraine has been fending off a Russian invasion for almost two years. Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, is particularly important for Russian warfare. Many troops are stationed there and supplies flow across the peninsula.
Sevastopol is the home port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, although most ships have been withdrawn from there. Thanks to improved drones of its own and weapons with longer ranges from Western supplies, Ukraine can increasingly fight military targets in Crimea. The Ukrainian leadership is aiming to recapture the peninsula.
lph/dpa AFX