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EKO HOT BLOG reports that Ukraine has claimed responsibility for a series of air strikes on Crimea after a month of uncertainty over who was behind them.
One of the attacks, which took place in early August, targeted Russia’s Saky military base and killed one person.
Ukraine had refused to acknowledge its role and even blamed them on Russian soldiers’ discarded cigarettes.
It confirms a significant expansion of the conflict by Ukraine into Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
In an article for national news agency Ukrinform, Kyiv’s top commander Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said Ukrainian rockets had targeted a number of Crimean military sites, including the Saky airbase which was rocked by multiple explosions on 9 August.
He claimed the attack – against a base used by Moscow to launch attacks against Ukraine – took 10 Russian warplanes “out of action”.
As well as damaging Russia’s military capabilities, Zaluzhnyi said it was intended to challenge Russia’s overall military confidence and sense of impunity.
The strikes were part of a deliberate response to Russian efforts to try and distance its own civilians from the conflict, he said.
Saky airbase is near Novofedorivka on Crimea’s western coast, a beach area popular with Russian tourists.
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