[ad_1]
Massive explosions have been seen hitting a key naval port in annexed Crimea that Russia claim was targeted in a major Ukrainian drone assault.
Russian Black Sea warships were reportedly having to fight the attack off in Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea which was annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
According to Ukrainian sources, several of the Russian ships from the fleet were blown up.
Local media are reporting that rescuers this morning are still attempting to put out a fire on one of the ships.
Residents claimed that the huge explosions ‘shook’ their homes and windows while black smoke was seen rising from the docks area.
Dramatic footage purportedly showed a Moscow attack helicopter destroying an ‘underwater drone’ in Omega Bay.
The video showed the helicopter hovering above the object in the water before it bursts into flames with smoke billowing out of it.
Residents claimed that the huge explosions ‘shook’ their homes and windows while black smoke was seen rising from the docks area
Dramatic footage showed a Moscow attack helicopter destroying an ‘underwater drone’ in Omega Bay
The underwater object thought to be a drone was said to be tailing a warship before it was reportedly destroyed by the Russian helicopter.
Missiles were fired from the helicopter which also unleashed volleys of machine gun fire.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, Russian governor of Sevastopol, said there was no damage to city infrastructure.
‘Black Sea Fleet ships are fighting off a drone attack in Sevastopol Bay.’ he said.
‘No damage has been reported in the city. The situation is under control. All response services are at the ready.’
A student dormitory at an art college near the port saw ‘one windowpane burst’ but ‘no harm was done’, he added.
Russian sources claimed its air defenced deployed from naval warships were forced to repel a sustained Ukrainian attack that started at 4.30am and lasted for at least five hours.
The Kremlin has also blamed a US Global Hawk (RQ-4B) which ‘flew from Italy’ for flying over the Black Sea and monitoring Russian responses to the concerted Ukrainian onslaught.
All passenger ferry services were suspended in the strategic port which is the HQ of Putin’s Black Sea Fleet.
According to Ukrainian sources, several of the Russian ships from the fleet were blown up
Local media are reporting that rescuers this morning are still attempting to put out a fire on one of the ships
Plumes of smoke were visible after reports of Ukrainian drone strikes in the middle of the night
Massive explosions have been seen hitting a key naval port in annexed Crimea that Russia claim was targeted in a major Ukrainian drone assault
Mikhail Razvozhayev, Russian governor of Sevastopol, said: ‘No damage has been reported in the city.
It marks what could be the most audacious attack so far by Ukraine on Russian naval assets in Sevastopol.
Earlier this week, Razvozhayev said that a drone had attacked a thermal power station near Sevastopol.
Meanwhile, the Russian fleet stationed in the port had also been attacked by a drone in July.
So far, attempts to verify Razvozhayev’s claims that no damage has been done have been unsuccessful.
The Russian statesman begged locals not to post footage of the attacks, claiming that it could aid the Kyiv regime.
‘A big request is not to write what-where-how much you saw and heard,’ he posted.
‘And do not upload videos. It should be clear to everyone that such data is very necessary for the UkroNazis in order to understand how the defence of our city is arranged.’
However, this did not fail to prevent residents reporting the explosions that unfolded in the middle of the nights.
One resident reported: ‘Woke up at 4 a.m. to a massive explosion. Thank goodness it’s [our] air defences.
Earlier this week, Razvozhayev (pictured) said that a drone had attacked a thermal power station near Sevastopol
Russia also blamed a US Global Hawk (RQ-4B) which ‘flew from Italy’ for flying over the Black Sea and monitoring Russian responses to the concerted Ukrainian onslaught
‘Our ships in Sevastopol Bay were repelling a drone attack.
‘It was a fun night, even very fun.’
Another stated: ‘Woke up to an explosion at 5:30am. Followed some time later by three more…’.
A third added: ‘Ten minutes ago three explosions sounded, and shook the house…’
Meanwhile, another comment said: ‘Woke up this morning to explosions.
‘Never heard anything like that before. It thundered so hard that the windows shook in the flat.’
The attack comes as Russia appears to have largely given up attacking Ukraine and has been forced on to the defensive after Putin’s military got mauled by Kyiv’s armies.
Russian troops have been forced on to the defensive across almost the entire frontline in Ukraine after Putin’s army was mauled, British intelligence said yesterday
Severely undermanned and poorly trained Russian units have stopped advancing across most of the front line in the last six weeks, British intelligence said yesterday.
Ukrainian forces advance in both the north and south of the country – pushing east from Kharkiv into Luhansk and advancing towards Kherson.
In Kherson, companies of soldiers which should consist of 100 men were fighting with just six to eight troops each, Ministry of Defence analysts added.
While Putin is attempting to bolster these units with conscripted troops, Russia is unlikely to be able to resume its offensive in the near future.
Earlier this week, it had appeared that Russia was preparing to withdraw from Kherson city but Ukraine now believes Putin is actually reinforcing it.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, said earlier this week that Russia has been evacuating civilians but is moving military reinforcements into urban areas, preparing defences, and plans to fight for the city.
He added that the evacuation and talk of a retreat by Russia’s top commander may have been an effort to lure Ukraine into a costly urban battle.
[ad_2]
Source link
