Ukraine Says It Hit Russian Naval Targets in Attack on Crimea

Reuters
By Reuters
September 13, 2023Russia–Ukraine War
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Ukraine Says It Hit Russian Naval Targets in Attack on Crimea
Smoke rises from the shipyard that was hit by Ukrainian missile attack in Sevastopol, Crimea, in this still image from video taken on Sept. 13, 2023. (Reuters TV via Reuters)

KYIV—Ukraine said it struck Russian naval targets and port infrastructure early on Wednesday in the Crimean city of Sevastopol.

The attack on Crimea was confirmed by Moscow.

“We confirm a large landing vessel and submarine were hit. We do not comment on the means (used) for the strike,” Ukrainian military intelligence official Andriy Yusov told Reuters, giving no further details on the scale of the damage.

Russia’s defence ministry said in statement that Ukraine had attacked a Black Sea shipyard with 10 cruise missiles and three uncrewed speedboats in the early hours of Wednesday, damaging two vessels that had been undergoing repairs.

It said it downed seven of the incoming missiles and that the attack boats had been destroyed by a Russian patrol ship.

It was not clear what kind of missile was used by Kyiv in the attack on Sevastopol, which lies about 300 km (186 miles) from Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa.

The West has poured weapons worth billions of dollars into Ukraine to help it fend off Russian forces.

The Ukrainian military, which launched a counteroffensive in early June, took the unusual step of publicly claiming responsibility for the strike, something it does not typically do for attacks on Russia or the Crimea peninsula.

“On the morning of Sept. 13 the Ukrainian armed forces conducted successful strikes on naval assets and port infrastructure of the occupiers at the docks of temporarily occupied Sevastopol,” it said on Telegram.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea and a major Black Sea port, said on Telegram that at least 24 people had been injured.

He posted a night photo of flames engulfing what appeared to be port infrastructure. Russian Telegram channels posted videos and more photos of flames at a facility by the water.

“All emergency services are working on the site, there is no danger to civilian objects in the city,” he said.

The shipyard on the peninsula builds and repairs ships and submarines of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The fleet has launched numerous missile attacks on Ukraine throughout the war.

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