Ukraine says Russian cruise missiles attacked in Crimea, hints at being responsible – National | 24CA News
Ukraine’s army intelligence company reported what seemed to be a brazen assault late Monday on Russian cruise missiles being transported by prepare within the occupied and illegally annexed Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula.
The area’s Russian-appointed governor reported an incident within the space of the identical Crimean city, Dzhankoi within the northern a part of the peninsula, although he didn’t point out cruise missiles as an assault goal.
None of the reviews could possibly be independently verified.
A imprecise assertion by the Ukrainian army company, posted on its web site, mentioned a number of Kalibr cruise missiles have been destroyed by an explosion, with out explicitly saying Ukraine was accountable or what weapon had been used. It mentioned the missiles have been being carried by rail and have been destined for submarine launch.
The company implied the Kyiv authorities was accountable by saying the explosion destroying the missiles continues “the process of Russia’s demilitarization and prepares the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea for de-occupation.”
In a pre-cursor to final yr’s full invasion of Ukraine, Russia in 2014 seized Crimea, then annexed the peninsula in a transfer that many nations condemned as unlawful. Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy has vowed to re-capture all of the Ukrainian land Russia now occupies, together with Crimea.
A doable indication of a Ukrainian assault got here from the Russian-appointed governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov. He mentioned on social media that anti-aircraft weapons have been fired within the neighborhood of Dzhankoi, the place Ukraine’s intelligence company mentioned the cruise missiles have been destroyed.
Aksenov mentioned falling particles injured one individual and broken a house and a retailer. His report didn’t point out that cruise missiles have been hit, specify why the anti-aircraft weapons have been fired or whether or not the damage and injury have been attributable to particles from the anti-aircraft weapons or from an object that was shot down.
Unconfirmed social media reviews claimed Russia’s anti-aircraft defenses shot down drones.
Throughout the present warfare, reviews have surfaced of assaults on Russian army bases, assassinations and different targets in Crimea, with Ukraine not often, if ever, explicitly claiming accountability however welcoming such incidents.
These incidents in Crimea and different areas of Russia removed from the warfare’s entrance strains have uncovered main weaknesses in Russia’s defenses, and embarrassed Russian President Vladimir Putin, who reportedly believed the invasion could be fast and straightforward.
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