2023-08-30 00:44:43
A nighttime drone attack targeted Pskov airport in northwestern Russia, Moscow announced on Wednesday, which at the same time claimed to have destroyed four Ukrainian military ships carrying members of Kyiv’s special forces.
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“A drone attack was repelled at Pskov airport, thank God (there are) no casualties,” said regional governor Mikhail Vedernikov in a video posted on Telegram.
He had earlier announced that the Ministry of Defense was working to “repel a drone attack” at this location, accompanying his message with a video where you might see a large fire and hear explosions and the howl of mermaids.
“The level of destruction is being clarified. All services are hard at work,” added the governor.
According to the official TASS news agency, citing the rescue services, four Il-76 heavy cargo planes were damaged.
All flights from Pskov airport on Wednesday were canceled pending assessment of possible damage to the runway, Vedernikov said.
“According to the first information, nothing serious, but at night it is difficult to verify this. If everything is in order, the airport will resume normal activities on Thursday,” detailed the governor.
The Pskov region, close to Estonia, had already been attacked by drones at the end of May. Its administrative capital is some 830 km from Kyiv.
AFP
Early Wednesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense also claimed to have destroyed in the Black Sea four Ukrainian military ships with members of the special forces on board.
On Wednesday around 0000 local time (2100 GMT Tuesday), “an aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet Naval Air Force (…) destroyed four fast military ships (which were carrying) landing groups of Ukrainian special operations forces (counting) in total up to 50 people”, communicated the ministry on Telegram without providing further information.
Ukraine congratulated itself on Thursday for having carried out a rare commando operation in the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014, and for having hoisted the national flag there, a symbolic success in this bastion considered impregnable by Moscow.
Units of Ukrainian special forces had come from the sea, landing near the villages of Olenivka and Mayak in western Crimea, before leaving “without losses”, accomplishing all their objectives and tasks according to Ukrainian military intelligence.
AFP
On August 22, Russia claimed to have “destroyed” an American-made speedboat carrying Ukrainian soldiers near Serpents’ Island in the Black Sea, following claiming the same day that of a reconnaissance vessel in the Black Sea.
According to Russian Defense, Kyiv also led drone attacks which were foiled by Russian forces overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Moscow said it shot down three drones in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine. This attack did not cause any casualties, according to Governor Alexandre Bogomaz, who spoke on Telegram.
Russian forces also destroyed a device in the Kaluga region, bordering that of Moscow, and another in the Orel region (west), according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The governor of the Orel region told him of “two unmanned aerial vehicles (…) shot down over the territory of the Orel region” by the air defense, indicating on Telegram that he had no information regarding any damage or injuries.
Drone attacks once morest Russian territory and the Crimean peninsula annexed in 2014 have become almost daily in recent weeks, targeting the Russian capital in particular, once morest the backdrop of the Kyiv counter-offensive that began in early June.
On Tuesday, Russia claimed to have foiled nighttime drone attacks in the Tula and Belgorod regions (west).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed at the end of July that “war is coming to Russian territory”.
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