EKO HOT BLOG reports that Ukraine has launched a fresh strike on Russia’s Black Sea fleet headquarters at Sevastopol, where officials in the annexed Crimean peninsula said that at least one drone had been shot down by air defences.
The reported attack on Saturday morning – a day after explosions erupted near military bases in Russian-held areas of Ukraine and Russia itself – came on the same day that 12 civilians were reportedly wounded when a Russian missile hit a residential area of a Ukrainian town.
Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Mykolaiv, said that four children were among those wounded in an attack that damaged several private houses and a five-storey residential building in Voznesensk, about 19 miles (30km) from the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant.
He added that a young girl had lost an eye as a result of the attack on Saturday.
While there was no apparent major damage after the reported unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attack on Sevastopol. Eyewitnesses said it demonstrated Ukraine’s ability to strike deep behind Russian lines at prestige targets.
Video shared on Twitter appeared to show Russian air defences attempting to destroy the UAV and dark plumes of smoke rising from the city.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, Sevastopol’s governor, wrote on Telegram that a drone had hit the roof of the headquarters on Saturday and said there were no casualties, reports the Russian news agency Tass.
“I am at the [Black Sea] fleet’s headquarters now. A drone hit the roof here 25 minutes ago. Unfortunately, it was not downed … There are no casualties,” he wrote.
Later on Saturday, Crimea’s governor, Sergei Aksyonov, contradicted the earlier statement by saying on Telegram that local air defences shot down the drone above the Black Sea fleet headquarters in Sevastopol.
“Air defense systems successfully hit all targets over the territory over Crimea on Saturday morning. There are no casualties or material damage,” his boss, Sergei Aksyonov, said on Telegram.
Authorities in Sevastopol reported on Saturday night that the city’s air-defence systems had been called into action again in the evening.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s defence ministry on Saturday said its forces had killed a total of 44,900 Russian personnel – a rise of 200 on the day before.
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