2023-07-22 19:00:33
Ukraine carried out a spectacular drone attack in Crimea on Saturday which blew up an ammunition depot, causing the evacuation of the surrounding population and the suspension of rail traffic in this annexed peninsula.
The new Ukrainian attack on Saturday in Crimea comes a few days after an assault on the Kerch bridge, the only work of its kind which connects the peninsula to Russia and is used in particular to transport equipment to the Russian military on the Ukrainian front.
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A satellite image taken on July 17, 2023 shows damage from the Ukrainian attack five days ago.
Photo : Associated Press / Maxar Technologies
Kiev, which launched a counter-offensive in early June to retake the territories conquered by Moscow, affirms its intention to recover Crimea in particular, which Russia unilaterally attached to its territory in 2014.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Kerch Bridge, built according to him in violation of international law, should be neutralized.
Crimean governor chosen by Moscow, Sergei Aksionov, explains to him that the drone attack caused an explosion in an ammunition depot […] in the Krasnogvardeisky district, located inland from the peninsula.
The decision was made to evacuate people living within a radius of five kilometers, he added.
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Sergei Aksionov (center), Governor of Crimea, during celebrations in 2015.
The local pro-Russian authorities announced at the end of the day that rail traffic, temporarily suspended, had been restored.
According to the Ministry of Health installed by Moscow, four people were hospitalized, without giving further details on the nature of their injuries.
Visiting Lukashenko
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, a staunch ally of Moscow presented as the mediator between the Kremlin and Yevgeny Prigojine almost a month ago during Wagner’s abortive rebellion in Russia, arrived in Saint Petersburg, where he is due to meet Vladimir Putin on Sunday.
The two leaders plan in particular to discuss the strategic partnership and alliance between Moscow and Minsk, according to the terms of a press release published Friday by the Kremlin.
This meeting comes as Ukrainian attacks, rarely claimed, have multiplied in recent weeks in this peninsula.
On the night of July 16 to 17, a naval drone attack damaged the Crimean Bridge, already hit in October 2022.
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The Kerch Bridge, connecting Crimea to Russia, was heavily damaged following the attack on the night of July 16-17.
Photo: afp via getty images / Crimea-24
Vladimir Putin had immediately promised a response from his army, also calling for improving the security of the work.
In addition, the Russian army announced that a journalist from the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, Rostislav Jouravlev, had been killed on Saturday in a Ukrainian bombardment in the region of Zaporijjia, in the south of Ukraine.
Units of the Ukrainian armed forces launched an artillery attack against a group of journalists, injuring four journalists more or less seriously, she accused.
Russia has described the premeditated death in a Ukrainian bombing of a Russian journalist as a heinous crime, judging the West responsible alongside Kiev and promising a response to those responsible for this attack.
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The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, in June 2023.
Photo : Getty Images / OLGA MALTSEVA
Also on these controversial weapons, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Russian region of Belgorod, bordering Ukraine and regularly the target of strikes, accused Kiev of having bombarded the village of Jouravlevka on Friday with cluster munitions.
In northeastern Ukraine, where Moscow’s forces have advanced slightly in recent days, a Russian bombardment killed a 45-year-old man, wounding a 70-year-old man, Ukraine’s prosecutor general said.
Tensions in the Black Sea
Beyond the still intense fighting, the week was especially marked by a verbal escalation concerning the Black Sea, after Russia’s exit from an international agreement on the export of Ukrainian cereals.
Moscow and kyiv have alternately warned ships sailing on the Black Sea, warning that they could be targeted if they headed for enemy ports.
On Saturday, Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the unblocking of the grain corridor in the Black Sea.
We have […] identified with Mr. Stoltenberg the priority and future steps necessary for the unblocking and sustainable exploitation of the grain corridor in the Black Sea, the Ukrainian President said on Twitter.
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