Russia claims it destroyed a fleet of Ukrainian air and sea attack drones in a double-punch attack on a key navy base in Crimea
- Russia destroyed a fleet of Ukrainian attack drones near Sevastopol, its defense ministry said.
- Russian authorities said the attack consisted of seven aerial and two underwater drones on Sunday.
Russia has destroyed a fleet of Ukrainian drones that attacked from air and sea, near Sevastopol, the location of a key naval base, according to Russia's defense ministry.
The Sunday morning attack near the Black Sea port resulted in no casualties or damage, the ministry said via the Telegram messaging app. Russian authorities called the strike a "terrorist attack" consisting of seven aerial and two underwater drones.
The ministry said in the Telegram post: "This morning, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack by seven unmanned aerial vehicles and two unmanned underwater vehicles on objects on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula near the city of Sevastopol was thwarted."
The ministry added that two aerial drones were destroyed over the Black Sea a "great distance from the coastline," and five others were intercepted by electronic warfare equipment. Two more underwater drones were detected and destroyed in the northern part of the Black Sea, according to Russian authorities.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. However, the country rarely claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or Russia-controlled territories, per Reuters.
In an earlier post, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, said the attacks occurred over the sea in the area of Cape Khersones as well as in Sevastopol Bay and Balaklava.
"No objects, either in the city or in the water area, were damaged," he said in a Telegram message, adding: "All is calm in the city now."
Some transport in the area, such as passenger ferries, were suspended in the early hours of Sunday morning, authorities said.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Russian officials have accused the country of carrying out multiple attacks on Sevastopol. The city is located in the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
In April, Razvozhayev said via a Telegram message that Russia's naval base in Sevastopol was attacked by exploding sea drones. The minister said at the time, no one was injured during the strike, and Russian forces destroyed one sea drone while a second exploded on its own.