Crimea has been the target of several attacks in recent days Viktor KOROTAYEV/Kommersant Photo/AFP 19.7.2023
A Ukrainian drone strike in Crimea has blown up a munitions depot, prompting evacuations on the Russianannexed peninsula and paralyzing rail services, just five days after one Offensive damages a strategic Russian bridge.
Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in early June to regain the territories captured by Russia and stated its intention to regain the territories Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodmir Zelenskyy said via video link at the Aspen Security Forum that the Crimean Bridge, which he says was built in violation of international law, should be “neutralized.”
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The Kerch Bridge is the only infrastructure connecting Crimea to Russia. It is used to transport Russian military equipment to the Ukrainian front. “As a result of an enemy drone strike in the Krasnogvardeysky district, an explosion occurred in an ammunition depot,” proRussian leader of Crimea Serguei Aksionov said in Telegram this Saturday (22).
“It was decided to evacuate people within a 5 km radius” and “to minimize the risks, also to stop train services”. Road traffic was briefly stopped. Aksionov did not say where exactly the attack took place, only saying that it happened in the Krasnogvardeysky district in central Crimea. According to him, there were no injuries.
evolution of attacks
Attacks on this Black Sea peninsula have intensified in recent weeks. Five days ago, a The offensive hit the Crimean bridgewhich had already been attacked by Ukrainian troops in October 2022.
Naval drones caused significant damage, two civilians driving on the bridge were killed. Russian President Vladimir Putin promised a “response” from his army and called for “enhanced security” on the bridge.
A Russian journalist from the state news agency Ria Novosti was killed in a Ukrainian bomb attack in the Zaporizhia region of southern Ukraine on Saturday, the Russian military said in a statement.
“Units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched an artillery attack against a group of journalists” and “four reporters were more or less seriously injured,” the Russian army said.
“During the evacuation, the journalist Rostislav Zhuravlev from Ria Novosti died as a result of the explosion of cluster munitions,” the army said. According to the news agency, “the attack occurred near the town of Pitikhatki”, in the Zaporizhia region (to the south).
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, this Saturday (22) accused the Ukrainian authorities of setting off group bombs in the town of Zhuravlev on Friday (21).
“In the Belgorod region, 21 artillery shells and three cluster munitions were fired from a multiple rocket launcher [pelo Exército ucraniano] in the village of Zhuravlevka,” Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in the telegram, referring to Friday’s attacks.
Aside from the fighting, the week was mainly marked by a verbal escalation between Ukraine and Russia after Moscow last Monday (17) canceled the agreement facilitating the export of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it would consider cargo ships bound for Ukraine as possible military targets. For its part, Ukraine announced on Thursday (20) that it would consider ships calling at Russiancontrolled ports as possible vessels to transport military equipment, “with all the associated risks”.