A drone incident in Russian-occupied Crimea is interpreted differently by the two warring parties. Russia says it has shot down a Ukrainian drone near the town of Jankoy.
An incident in Russia-annexed Crimea led to very different reports from Moscow and Kiev. While Russia said it shot down Ukrainian drones near the town of Dzhankoy on Monday night, the Ukrainian military intelligence service HUR reported on Tuesday the destruction of Russian cruise missiles by an “explosion”.
Regarding the incident in Crimea, HUR said on the Telegram online service that an “explosion in the town of Dzhankoy in temporarily occupied northern Crimea” had “destroyed Russian Kalibr NK guided missiles while being transported by train”. The secret service did not provide further information about Kiev’s possible involvement in the destruction.
A spokeswoman for the Ukrainian army’s southern command noted that Kiev considers it important to cater for Russia’s “logistics” and that Jankoy in Crimea is an “important railway junction” for the Russian army.
Russia says it repelled drone attack in Crimea
The Russian investigative committee, on the other hand, said Russian air defense “repulsed a drone attack near the town of Jankoy in Crimea”. All drones shot down were aimed at civilian infrastructure. Sergey Aksyonov, the Moscow-appointed governor of Crimea, reported one person injured by debris from a hit shell.
The Russian-occupied peninsula of Crimea has been the target of drone strikes on several occasions. Russia operates a base in the Dzhankoy area. In August 2022, an ammunition dump exploded there. Moscow spoke of “sabotage” at the time.
An adviser to the governor accused the Ukrainian authorities of wanting to avenge Moscow’s annexation of Crimea with the new attack. On the ninth anniversary of the annexation, on March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the peninsula.
Attack on Russian oil pumping station?
The governor of the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, Alexander Bogomas, meanwhile, reported a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil pumping station. Bogomas wrote on the Telegram online service that the Ukrainian army “deployed a drone to attack the area of the Novozybkov oil pumping station”. There were no casualties.
Since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began in February 2022, Russian cities and infrastructure close to the border with Ukraine have been repeatedly hit by attacks, mainly with drones. Moscow accused the Ukrainian army of being responsible for the attacks.
(APA/AFP)