“Important object on the west coast”
Ukraine reports “successful” attack on Crimean air defenses
October 30, 2023, 12:55 p.m
Ukraine has been increasing attacks on military targets in Crimea for weeks. Now Kiev is announcing another strike against the Russian defenses on the annexed peninsula. The American ATACMS missiles play an important role in this.
The Ukrainian military says it hit a Russian anti-aircraft base on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in an attack using water drones and missiles. The armed forces announced that they had “successfully attacked a strategically important air defense object on the west coast” of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. According to media, a position near the town of Olenivka was hit by US ATACMS rockets, injuring 17 soldiers and damaging five vehicles. Moscow has not officially confirmed this.
Instead, Russian authorities reported repelling an attack by water drones during the night. Black Sea Fleet forces stopped a drone attack off the coast that night, the Moscow-appointed governor of the port city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvoshayev, said on Telegram.
Russia is using Crimea as a supply base for its war of aggression against Ukraine, which has been ongoing for more than 20 months. In recent weeks, Kiev has increasingly attacked military targets in Crimea. Among other things, an important war yard, naval ships and the base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were severely damaged.
Russia annexed the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula in 2014 in violation of international law. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for a “complete de-occupation” of his country’s territory.