Moscow claimed early Friday that it shot down 42 Ukrainian drones in Crimea, describing a massive attack on the annexed peninsula where kyiv said Thursday it carried out a rare commando operation.
“Nine drones were destroyed as a result of the impact of fire over the territory of the Republic of Crimea. 33 drones were neutralized by means of electronic warfare and crashed without reaching (their) target”, a indicated the Russian Defense on Telegram.
The ministry did not provide information on any damage or casualties following the destruction of the devices.
Governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvojayev had earlier reported that several aircraft had been shot down “in the area of ????Cape Chersonese” located in the south-west of the peninsula, some 10 km from Sevastopol, home port of the Russian Fleet. of the Black Sea.
“No damage to civilian infrastructure” was found by the emergency services, said Mr. Razvojayev.
Since the launch of the offensive against Ukraine in February 2022, Crimea has been the regular target of aerial and naval drone attacks.
At the end of July, 25 of these machines aimed at the peninsula had been shot down by Moscow without causing any casualties. Twenty-eight others had suffered the same fate in mid-July.
kyiv, which launched a counter-offensive in early June to retake the territories conquered by Moscow, affirms its intention to recover Crimea in particular, which Russia annexed in 2014.
On Thursday, Ukraine’s Independence Day, Kiev was pleased to have carried out a rare commando operation in the peninsula and to have hoisted the national flag there, a symbolic success in this bastion considered impregnable by Moscow.
Ukrainian military intelligence did not specify the mission of the special forces units but stressed that they left “without losses”, having accomplished all their “goals and tasks”.
On Wednesday, a powerful Russian surface-to-air missile system was destroyed in Crimea, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
And it is in the context of its counter-offensive, which according to Kiev requires F-16 fighter planes, that Ukrainians will be trained in their piloting by the United States from September, Washington announced Thursday.
During a phone call, US President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky also discussed “guaranteeing rapid approval for other nations to transfer their F-16s to Ukraine at the end of the training,” according to a White House statement.
Earlier Thursday, Norway announced it would become the third country to supply copies of the American-designed plane to Ukraine, following Denmark and the Netherlands.
In addition to the massive drone attack in Crimea, a Ukrainian missile aimed at “civilian targets” was destroyed early Friday by Russian forces in the Russian region of Kaluga, bordering that of Moscow, according to the Ministry of Defense.
“No one was injured and there was no damage to infrastructure,” regional governor Vladislav Chapcha said on Telegram.
Once again, traffic at Moscow’s Vnukovo and Domodedovo international airports was briefly halted, according to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.
Welcoming the “contribution” to the offensive in Ukraine of the boss of the paramilitary group Wagner Evgeny Prigojine, despite his “errors”, Russian President Vladimir Putin also offered his condolences on Thursday, speaking to the past of this ex-ally to destiny ” complicated” who had turned his men against Moscow in June, and is presumed dead in the crash of his plane.
Mr. Zelensky, questioned Thursday on the subject during a press conference, affirmed for his part that “what is certain is that we have nothing to do with this situation. I think that everyone understands who is concerned”.
25/08/2023 08:14:12 – Moscow (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
