STILL Sevastopol, as in the days of the Crimean War. This time there are no broadsides or sieges, but targeted attacks carried out with modern technologies. And the Ukrainians hit the mark, raising a column of smoke from the Russian base on the Black Sea, the headquarters of the Fleet of the Russian Federation. The strike would have hit a command building, while an official source quoted by Interfax said the vehicle was shot down, falling on a roof after being hit by anti-aircraft guns.
However, footage from Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne actually showed the aftermath of the drone strike, complete with black smoke on the horizon. It is not clear what weapons were used, nor the actual result of the attack. The fact is that in daylight the Ukrainian armed forces are probably marking the most important signal of reaction to the invaders, launching the offensive in the pro-Russian occupied territory and the nerve center of the new conflict. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy said a few days ago, the war will really end when Crimea is Ukrainian again. And the Black Sea peninsula in particular, an important port and strategic area, would have been the focus of further raids in the past few hours. Russian media reported drone strikes in the western part, thwarted by air defense systems in the sky over Sevastopol, Yevpatoriya and Zazoerne. Just to reiterate how the key to the problem revolves around the disputed territory that was Ukrainian but annexed by Russia back in 2014. And a new warning of a war increasing day by day its drama in households in the field and in the context of issues of international interest.
The base of the Russian fleet has always been a key point, at least as much as the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is still awaiting inspection by International Atomic Energy Agency technicians. And yet, at a crossroads in a mutual exchange of accusations, Moscow has in recent hours blamed Ukrainian forces for using chemical warfare agents against Russian troops in the region. The Ministry of Defense spoke of signs of “severe poisoning” found in some soldiers and attributed to “botulinum toxin type B”. The ministry said it is preparing a dossier with the results of tests to prove Kyiv’s alleged use of chemical warfare agents at the end of the mission in the Zaporizhia region. Tensions that are dampening the signs of openness that seemed to have made negotiation approaches possible again in recent days.
Not least that of Vladimir Putin, who in his phone call with Macron had endorsed the Aiea mission in Zaporizhia on the terms agreed between Zelenskyy and Guterres during the Lviv Trilateral. Tensions that do not leave indifferent international actors, including Italy. The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, in his message to the Rimini meeting, condemned what he called “a nasty war caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine”. An invasion that “continues to generate, shakes all of humanity in its basic values and Europe in its very identity”.
Furthermore, “passion for man presupposes peace, the horizon of democratic coexistence, social justice, respect for every human being in their freedom, their rights, their diversity”. Concepts that cannot be pursued with the use of weapons.
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