The Ukrainian army claimed responsibility for the attack in which an ammunition depot in Crimea was blown up on Saturday (22). The action, carried out with a drone, forced the evacuation of the population within a fivekilometer radius of the affected region and paralyzed traffic in the area.
Crimea is the main target of a counteroffensive launched by Ukraine in June to recapture territories captured by Russia. The region was annexed by Moscow in 2014.
The proRussian leader of Crimea, Sergei Aksionov, said early Saturday afternoon that the attack in Krasnogvardeyskiy district culminated in an explosion but claimed no casualties.
Six days ago, in another military action, the Ukrainian army reached the Crimean bridge, which had already been attacked by the country’s troops in October 2022, killing two civilians. The Kerch Bridge is a strategic goal as it is the only infrastructure connecting the two countries. It is used by the Russian military to transport military equipment to the Ukrainian front.
In a video conference at the Aspen Security Forum on Friday (21), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Crimean bridge should be “neutralized”. For Zelenskyy, the infrastructure was built in violation of international law.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised his army a “response” and called for “improved security” at the site.
Journalist dies in bomb attack
A Russian journalist from the state news agency Ria Novosti was killed in another Ukrainian military action on Saturday in the Zaporizhia region of southern Ukraine, the Russian army said.
“Units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched an artillery attack on a group of journalists,” and “four reporters were slightly and seriously injured,” he said.
“During the evacuation, Ria Novosti journalist Rostislav Zhuravlev died as a result of cluster bomb explosions,” the army added.
The Russian Foreign Ministry blamed the Western powers and Kiev for “responsibility” for the reporter’s death and assured that this “heinous crime” would not go unanswered.