Ukraine launched its most intense drone strike on Putin’s naval port of Sevastopol in annexed Crimea
Russia claims it repelled the Ukrainian attack, downing the drone
Ukraine launched its most intense drone attack in two months on the Crimean naval port of Sevastopol.
A video captured the moment a surface kamikaze sea drone attacked the city in the early hours of July 16, coming within 100 yards of the devastating destruction.
Two drones were reportedly used in the attack, while 10 unmanned aerial drones separately bombed the city, the headquarters of Putin’s Black Sea fleet.
Russia claimed two aircraft were shot down by drones and five were downed by electronic warfare jamming.
The warm water port of Sevastopol is of strategic importance as a jumping-off point for Russia’s access to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
Image shows a massive air and sea drone attack on Sevastopol in the early hours of 16 July 2023
Reports said there were at least three more aerial drones and the attack continued from 1 am to 8 am.
The video shows the Russians shooting at one of the drones.
The targets of the two drones were a power station and anti-aircraft installation in Balaklava.
The maritime drones were reportedly destroyed by heavy machine gun fire from the crew of a warship moored in Sevastopol.
Sevastopol governor and Putin ally Mikhail Razovaev said “nothing was damaged in the city or in the water area.”
He said that there were more than ten drone attacks.
Ukraine has not commented on the Sevastopol attack.
The city has also seen drone strikes by Ukraine since late April.
Razvozaev then said that the fleet was successfully repelling attacks by surface drones.
He claimed that one incoming drone was ‘eliminated by anti-submarine/sabotage defense forces’ and the second ‘self-detonated’.
Russian sources have since denied any damage to Vladimir Putin’s Black Sea fleet or any facilities.
Sevastopol, along with the rest of the Crimean peninsula, was claimed to have been annexed by Russia in 2014, but is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine.
Earlier this month it was reported that Joe Biden is now considering supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine after the controversial decision to send the cluster munitions.
The administration was wary of sending the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to Kiev because it has a range of less than 200 miles.
This means it can be used to invade Russia and Crimea from Ukraine.
Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia claimed to have repelled the drone strike
Governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozaev meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin
Russia annexed the Crimean Khanate – a Tatar state living on the peninsula – in 1783 and built Sevastopol as a naval base and fortress a year later.
Four years later, the commercial port opened. The site is a strategically important location and Russia’s only warm-water base – allowing the navy to sail year-round.
The city was heavily damaged during the Crimean War and was extensively rebuilt.
It was again besieged and destroyed during World War II and has since been rebuilt.
After Ukrainian independence from the USSR in 1991 (collapse), Sevastopol became the main naval base of the Ukrainian Navy – a source of tension with Russia.
The dispute was resolved in 1997 with an agreement that saw the deployment of separate fleets and the division of bases between Russia and Ukraine.
Russia in 2014 abrogated the separation agreement on the status and conditions of the Black Sea Fleet, when it annexed Crimea.