As a new Ukrainian attack took place in Crimea, Russia called the death of a Russian journalist in a Ukrainian bombing raid a “heinous crime” and pledged “a response” from its army.
Ukraine carried out a spectacular drone strike in Crimea on Saturday, July 22, blowing up an ammunition depot. This new attack comes a few days after an attack on the Kerch Bridge, the only structure of its kind that connects the peninsula with Russia and is used in particular to transport equipment for the Russian military on the Ukrainian front. Franceinfo looks back at the highlights of the day.
Pro-Russian authorities have accused Kiev of causing an ammunition depot explosion in Crimea
Pro-Russian authorities stationed on this annexed peninsula on Saturday accused Ukraine of using drones to blow up a munitions depot. The incident led to the evacuation of the population “within a five-kilometer radius,” said Sergei Aksionov, the leader of the occupation of annexed Crimea, in the Telegram. The Health Ministry of annexed Crimea announced later that day that four people had been taken to hospital without providing details of the nature of their injuries.
The attack also caused traffic disruption on the Crimean Bridge. However, this was restored very quickly, the pro-Russian authorities emphasized on Telegram. Rail traffic was also suspended for most of the day. Finally, on Saturday evening, Sergueï Aksionov announced that “rail traffic in the Krasnogvardeïski district” where the attack took place was “restored”.
Kyiv, which launched a counter-offensive in early June to retake territories captured from Moscow, reiterates its intention to regain Crimea in particular, which Russia unilaterally annexed to its territory in 2014. On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Kerch Bridge, which he says was built in violation of international law, should be “neutralized.”
Russian journalist killed in bomb attack attributed to Ukraine
The Russian army announced that a journalist from Russia’s Ria Novosti news agency, Rostislav Jouravlev, was killed in a Ukrainian bombing raid in the Zaporizhia region of southern Ukraine on Saturday. “Units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched an artillery attack on a group of journalists,” injuring “four journalists more or less seriously,” she accused.
Russian diplomacy condemned a premeditated “heinous crime” and held the West “responsible” along with Kiev. “The perpetrators of the brutal massacre of the Russian journalist will inevitably receive the punishment they deserve,” she said, promising “a response” to those responsible for the attack.
Ukrainian cameraman injured
At the same time, German public television broadcaster Deutsche Welle announced that one of its Ukrainian cameramen, Yevgen Chylko, was injured by Russian ammunition fire while reporting on the Ukrainian army 23 kilometers from the front on the Ukrainian side. One Ukrainian soldier was killed in those shootings, “and others were seriously injured,” she added in a press release.
Two other members of the broadcast team, a journalist and a security adviser, escaped unharmed. They filmed a report on a Ukrainian army training center near Druzhkivka in Donbass, Donetsk Oblast. “The target of the Russian attack was probably the Ukrainian training ground,” Deutsche Welle said.
An exchange between Ukraine’s President and NATO chief on the Black Sea Grain Corridor
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday he had held a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about the “opening” of the Black Sea grain corridor. “We (…) identified with Mr. Stoltenberg the priority and future steps required for the unblocking and sustainable use of the Black Sea Grain Corridor,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Twitter, at the end of a week marked by verbal escalation regarding the Black Sea, deemed unacceptable by the United Nations, following Russia’s exit from the international agreement on Ukrainian grain exports.