Explosions tore through a shipyard at the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea before dawn on Wednesday, damaging at least two ships and setting off a blaze that continued to burn into the early morning, according to Russian officials.
The Russian ministry of defence said in a statement that Ukraine had fired 10 cruise missiles at the facility in the city of Sevastopol at the same time as it targeted a Russian warship on the Black Sea with three maritime drones. Air defence systems shot down seven cruise missiles, and the patrol ship Vasily Bykov destroyed all the unmanned drones, the ministry said.
The rare acknowledgement of a successful Ukrainian attack came after local residents broadcast images of explosions and raging fires in the shipyard on social media. Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Russian-backed governor of Crimea, later shared a photo that appeared to show the port side of a Ropucha-class large landing ship that sustained damage. Ukrainian officials had no immediate comment on the strikes on Wednesday.
Razvozhayev said at least 24 people were injured at the Sevmorzavod shipyard. The initial explosions, and sounds of air defences, were first reported at 2am (local time).
The conflict on the Black Sea has escalated in the past few months, expanding another battlefront in the nearly 19-month-old war in Ukraine. Kyiv has increasingly targeted Russian military operations.
New York Times News Service
