At least one person has been killed and a fire was sparked in Kyiv’s latest assault on the annexed peninsula, according to Russia.
A Ukrainian missile attack has struck the headquarters of Moscow’s Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea, killing at least one person and sparking a fire in Kyiv’s latest assault on the peninsula.
Ukraine has targeted Crimea throughout Russia’s offensive but attacks on military installations there have recently intensified as Kyiv has pledged to recapture the peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
“The headquarters of the fleet have been hit in an enemy missile attack,” Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of Crimea’s largest city Sevastopol, said on social media on Friday.
Razvozhayev said that missile fragments had fallen near a theatre and urged residents to stay clear of the site.
In a second post, he warned that another aerial attack could be imminent, urging residents of the city, which is home to more than 500,000 people, to remain indoors.
“Attention everyone! Another attack is possible. Please do not go to the city centre. Do not leave buildings,” he said.
“Everyone who is near the headquarters of the fleet – at the sound of the siren proceed to shelters,” Razvozhayev added.
He said rescue workers were at the scene, adding, “Firefighters are taking all measures to eliminate the fire as soon as possible.”
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said that “one serviceman was killed”, adding that five missiles had been shot down by air defence systems.
Later on Friday, the Moscow-appointed governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said on Telegram that several cruise missiles had been intercepted over Crimea.
“Over the territory of the Republic of Crimea, air defence has shot down cruise missiles,” he said, without specifying how many missiles were shot down.
Ukrainian and Russian attacks in and around the Black Sea have increased since Moscow withdrew from an accord that allowed safe passage to civilian cargo ships from three Ukrainian ports.
Ukraine has urged its allies to provide its armed forces with long-range missiles so it can target positions deeper inside Russia-controlled territory.
Western leaders have hesitated over concerns Ukraine could target Russian territory and thereby escalate the conflict.
Both France and the United Kingdom, however, have supplied Kyiv’s forces with the weapons.
As part of the increasingly frequent barrages on Crimea, Ukraine said earlier this week it had struck a military airfield near the town of Saky.
A source in Ukraine’s SBU security service said there were at least a dozen warplanes and Pantsir missile defence systems at the airfield when the attack took place.
The airfield also housed a training centre for operators of drones that Russia has used to target Ukraine.
The SBU source said that Ukraine had deployed a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles that “overwhelmed Russian air defences” and then launched Neptune cruise missiles.
Crimea bridge
Kyiv has also repeatedly targeted and hit – the only bridge that connects the peninsula to the Russian mainland, on several occasions leaving damage that took weeks to repair.
The last significant attack in July affected the road section of the bridge, which can also accommodate rail traffic and has also been used to transport military equipment.
Russian officials said on Friday that traffic across the bridge had been temporarily paused.
Civilian maritime traffic was stopped earlier on Friday in Sevastopol, Russian-installed authorities said, without providing details.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had shot down one guided missile and two drones that had targeted the peninsula.