Today, a kamikaze drone attack on the Russian Navy headquarters in Crimea caused a massive explosion, in what is believed to be another Ukrainian incursion.
Smoke was observed pouring into the air this morning after the attack, which occurred despite Putin’s forces’ desperate attempts to shoot down the UAV, as witnessed in a video containing repeated firing.
According to reports, the naval headquarters was struck directly, and panicked Russian vacationers evacuated the famed summer peninsula.
Governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhaev verified the incident through Telegram: ‘Unfortunately, [the drone] was not shot down, despite the fact that small weapons fire was directed at the bay. It descended low. There were no casualties.
He cautioned, “The persistence of these Ukro-Reich idiots is astounding.” Everyone should be home within the next hour, if feasible.’
Russia also had incoming strikes at the resort town of Yevpatoriya, north of Sevastopol, where a guy was overheard muttering, “This is not funny.” Let’s pack up and leave this location. There are no fireworks present.
Sergei Aksyonov, the head of Putin’s authority in seized Crimea, announced the activation of the air defense system in Western Crimea.
“The target is struck. There is neither damage nor injury. Our armed forces execute their duties with precision, competence, and efficiency. I request that everyone remain calm and just rely on official information.
As the initial wave of attacks arrived, Razvozzhaev stated, “I am at my government office.” I, along with many other citizens, heard clapping in the [city] center.
Similar sounds were detected in the Strelka region a short while ago. In the bay, the air defense was active. The center was defended by naval artillery. Similar to yesterday. According to preliminary information, they were destroying drones. Targets were hit. We maintain peace. The military is performing their duties flawlessly. Let us assist them.’
The fear of Crimea attacks, a new twist in the conflict this month, is evident among tourists departing the peninsula.
It is the latest in a series of mysterious explosions that are largely thought to have been caused by Ukrainian forces deep within the seized peninsula.
Officials from the intelligence community disclosed yesterday night that the strikes have hampered the invaders’ military capabilities while also demonstrating Kyiv’s capacity to disrupt Russian logistics.
It followed last week’s massive explosion at a Russian air facility in Crimea. Western officials have recently acknowledged that the event destroyed half of Russia’s naval aviation fleet in the Black Sea.
A source stated, ‘They have lost the flagship Moskva, Snake Island, half of their naval aviation package, and their military headquarters has been attacked.’ I believe we should anticipate Ukrainian strikes behind enemy lines.
The explosions were reported at an air base in the village of Belbek on the southwestern coast close to Sevastopol, the headquarters of Vladimir Putin’s Black Sea navy.
At the opposite end of the peninsula, the sky over Kerch near a massive bridge to Russia has been lighted up by what Moscow claims are its air defenses.
Two Russian villages have been evacuated following explosions at a munitions dump in the Belgorod area, more than 100 kilometers from Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Kyiv also announced an attack on a bridge near Kherson at the Kakhovska Dam, which is one of the last avenues for Russia to feed its soldiers on the western bank of the Dnieper River.
The person stated that such attacks were having a “major psychological effect on the Russian leadership.”
Russia has denied that any aircraft were damaged in what it termed an accident at the base, despite satellite images showing at least eight destroyed airplanes.
The recent explosions have had a significant psychological impact on Moscow’s leadership, with the invasion of Ukraine ‘nearing a standstill,’ according to Western sources.
More than half of the Russian navy’s Black Sea Fleet combat jets were rendered inoperable by explosions last week at the Russian-operated Saky military airstrip in western Crimea, a previously safe location, according to the British Ministry of Defense (MoD).
The Kremlin is occupied with assigning blame for the catastrophe, and President Putin is attempting to conceal Ukraine’s success from the Russian populace.
A fire at a munitions store in the Russian town of Timonovo has prompted the evacuation of two settlements in Russia’s Belgorod region, according to officials on Friday. Thousands of Russians have fled Crimea and have flooded into the country.
15 miles from the Ukrainian border, the settlements of Timonovo and Soloti are home to approximately 1,100 people. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor of Belgorod, reported late Thursday that there were no victims in the fire.
In last week’s attack on the Crimean airbase, it was stated that nine Russian jets were destroyed.
Neither the Russians’ weakness nor the Ukrainians’ ability to strike deeply beyond enemy lines had previously been considered conceivable.
The Ukrainian government has refrained from openly claiming responsibility, but President Volodymyr Zelensky has hinted to Ukrainian attacks behind enemy lines following the explosions in Crimea, which Russia has attributed to “sabotage.”
Regarding Ukraine’s capabilities, a Western official remarked, ‘Ukraine now consistently achieves kinetic effects behind Russia’s borders.
Not only have the incidents had a tangible impact on Russia’s logistical support, but they have also had a huge psychological impact on the Russian leadership.
They said that the attacks had put the Black Sea Fleet into a defensive posture and thwarted Russia’s capacity to execute a successful amphibious assault on Odessa on Ukraine’s coast, which would have severely restricted Ukraine’s sea access.
The battle has entered a phase of ‘near operational halt,’ with neither side’s ground troops possessing sufficient fighting power to start meaningful offensive operations, according to a Western official.
As it strives to reconstitute its armed forces, Russia faces a growing dearth of supplies, including even the most basic munitions, as well as manpower challenges.
They stated, “There was a time when there was incessant shelling, and it reached a peak during the struggle for the Donbas.”
We are no longer at that pinnacle.
The pace of the entire campaign has slowed, in part because both sides have realized that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and that spending rates and saving their munitions are crucial.
According to the Ministry of Defense, at least a dozen people were killed by Russian strikes in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv this week.
“This civilian suffering is a particularly egregious example of Russian cynicism,” the person said, adding that Moscow has no plans to launch an offensive in the region or gain a significant operational advantage from the shelling.
Meanwhile, the chief of the British spy agency GCHQ stated that Moscow has failed to gain momentum against Ukraine in cyberspace.
Sir Jeremy Fleming stated in an op-ed for The Economist, “President Putin has thus far lost the information battle in Ukraine and the West.”
Similar to its invasion on land, Russia’s original online objectives appear to have failed.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stated in televised remarks on Friday that statements made by Ukrainian officials about targeting facilities in Crimea represent ‘an openly supported escalation of the conflict’ by the United States and its NATO partners.
In telephone conversations with senior members of the Biden administration, Russian officials, according to Ryabkov, cautioned the United States against taking such measures.
‘Deep and open U.S. involvement’ in the Ukraine crisis, he wrote, ‘essentially places the United States on the verge of being a party to the conflict.’
“We do not want an escalation,” stated Ryabkov. We’d like to avoid a situation in which the United States becomes a party to the dispute, but so far we haven’t seen any indication that they are willing to take our concerns seriously. Putin fired his Black Sea navy commander earlier this week in response to the strikes.
Igor Osipov’s dismissal was the most notable dismissal of a military official in the nearly six months since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Viktor Sokolov was introduced to the fleet’s military council in the port of Sevastopol, according to state-owned RIA.
According to one source, it was ‘natural’ that the appointment was not made public while Russia was waging what it considers its special military operation in Ukraine.
Following the sinking of the flagship Moskva on April 14, rumors circulated that Osipov was fired, although the naval commander appears to have maintained his position until recently.
Moscow said that Osipov was “not in the mood” to attend the Red Square “victory parade” following the loss of the flagship.
