The Kremlin-installed authorities in Crimea mentioned on Sunday that Ukraine had launched a wave of drones on the occupied peninsula in a single day, the most recent in a string of reported attacks on Russian-held territory forward of an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Russian-appointed governor of the port of Sevastapol, the biggest metropolis in Crimea, mentioned that “greater than 10” drones had been concerned within the assault. Not less than three had been destroyed or crashed, he mentioned on the Telegram messaging app, including that there have been no studies of harm.
His claims couldn’t be independently verified. And the Ukrainian authorities, as coverage, not often touch upon explosions behind enemy strains.
Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, has been a key conduit for provides and troops supporting Russia’s occupying forces in southern Ukraine. Assaults and explosions there have picked up in recent months, which army analysts say may assist set the stage for a long-anticipated counteroffensive that Ukrainian officers have mentioned is within the closing phases of preparation.
In simply the previous two weeks, refineries and army installations on the peninsula have been focused. The Russian authorities have sought to downplay the assaults, however Ukraine’s army has mentioned that a minimum of one of many assaults was in preparation for its counteroffensive.
After a winter the place either side gained little floor in combating centered in japanese Ukraine, every is getting ready for the following section of the conflict. Ukraine is being powered by recent provides of advanced Western military equipment, together with tanks and armored personnel carriers which have already arrived within the nation. And Russian forces have dug new defensive positions and are repositioning troops to arrange for the anticipated counteroffensive.
Right here’s what else is occurring in Ukraine:
A lethal assault in Kherson
Six Ukrainian mine disposal consultants had been killed after they got here underneath fireplace from Russian forces whereas they had been working in southern Ukraine’s Kherson area, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service mentioned on Saturday.Ukrainian demining consultants have commonly been killed and wounded whereas making an attempt to clear mines, typically laid by retreating Russian forces, however it’s uncommon for them to be focused by enemy fireplace. It was not clear the place within the area the incident befell. The report couldn’t be independently verified.
“The State Emergency Service misplaced part of its household,” mentioned its chief, Serhiy Kruk, in a put up on Fb, which mentioned {that a} paramedic and one other individual had additionally been injured within the assault. Specialists had eliminated 7,300 mines within the week to Saturday, the service mentioned in a put up on the Telegram social messaging app.
The Ukrainian authorities have positioned Kherson’s regional capital metropolis underneath a weekend curfew due to unspecified threats posed by Russian forces and to facilitate the unimpeded work of Ukrainian legislation enforcement and army.
