The attack on Sevastopol, the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Moscow, comes as Russian and Ukrainian forces are fighting in the southeast.
The Russian Navy has repelled a drone attack in the Gulf of Sevastopol, home of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Moscow-annexed Crimea, according to a statement from a Russia-installed governor, as a battle for control of southeastern Ukraine’s cities rages on. Kherson and Bakhmut.
“Today, starting at 04:30 in the morning for several hours, various air defense systems in Sevastopol repelled drone attacks,” Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvogayev said on Telegram early Saturday. “All the drones were shot down,” he added.
“Nothing has been hurt in the city. We remain calm. The situation is under control.”
The attack in Sevastopol – the largest city in Crimea, comes at a time when Ukrainian forces are engaged in a fierce battle with Russian forces in Kherson Province, which is the gateway to Crimea. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Since launching their counterattack late last month, Ukrainian forces have retaken large areas from Russian forces, including the city of Kharkiv, forcing the Russians to stand in the back. Battlefield setbacks prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to call for a partial mobilization of his army and a reconfiguration of his military leadership.
And last month, a major bridge linking Crimea to mainland Russia was partially damaged in an explosion that Moscow blamed on Ukraine. Kyiv denied its role in the attack, which drew Russia in retaliation.
Since then, Russia has carried out airstrikes and drone strikes across Ukraine, damaging more than a third of its energy infrastructure. On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said about four million Ukrainians were left without electricity as a result of the attacks.
Russia says soldiers are close to Bakhmut
Meanwhile, Moscow claimed that its soldiers are slowly approaching the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in the eastern Ukraine region.
The capture of Pakhmut will rip Ukrainian supply lines and open a path for Russian forces to advance towards Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, Ukraine’s main strongholds in Donetsk province, which Moscow annexed last month along with Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.
Local officials said ferries and boats have been temporarily halted crossing the Sevastopol Bay, according to the Reuters news agency.
Moscow’s forces attacked Ukraine from several directions, including from the Crimea, when they invaded in February.
Earlier this week, Razvogayev said that a drone had attacked a thermal power plant near Sevastopol.
The Russian fleet stationed in the port was attacked by a drone in July.
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