At least three drone strikes from Ukraine were thwarted in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, according to the Russian-appointed authorities in Crimea, who confirmed this on Sunday.
“More than ten drones” were sent to Crimea and Sevastopol overnight, according to the city’s pro-Russian governor, Mikhail Razvozhaev. In a statement posted on Telegram, he claimed that “the air defence forces and electronic warfare units prevented another attack on Sevastopol.”
He also mentioned that one of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) crashed into a forest after losing control.
The wreckage was recovered by Interior Ministry and Emergencies Ministry personnel, Razvozhaev said, adding that there was no damage done to any structures in the city.
Two others were shot down over the sea – one near Cape Chersonese and the other from “the side of the north breakwater.”
Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and is internationally recognized as being part of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to “liberate” all of the country’s territory including the occupied peninsula.
An important port and a major naval base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol city has been the site of multiple suspected Ukrainian attacks.
Last week saw reports of a suspected drone strike which sparked a huge fire at a fuel storage facility in Sevastopol. Razvozhaev said on that occasion that four fuel tanks were hit but no one was injured.
Earlier on Saturday, Sergei Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed governor of Crimea, said there had been no damage or injuries after air defense forces shot down a ballistic missile launched from Ukrainian Operational Tactical Missile System Hrim-2.