According to state information, Russian air defense repelled another drone attack on the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Moscow since 2014. The unmanned flying object was shot down this morning over a pier near Sevastopol, the naval base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet .
Despite the ceasefire announced unilaterally by the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, on the occasion of the Orthodox Christmas, new fighting broke out in Ukraine yesterday. Even “Holy Christmas” could not stop the “inhuman beings” “from attacking our hero city”, wrote the Russian governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Rasvozhayev, according to the state agency Tass on its Telegram channel. The port has been the target of Ukrainian drone strikes on several occasions.
Russia supplies its occupying forces in southern Ukraine mainly through Crimea. Ukraine is therefore repeatedly targeting logistical and military targets on the peninsula. Two Ukrainian drones were shot down over Sevastopol on 4 January.
Crimea’s recovery is also one of Kiev’s stated goals after Russia’s war of aggression has increasingly stalled in recent months. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this could be done through diplomatic or military channels.