Moscow. The Russian Ministry of Defense affirmed yesterday that it shot down about twenty Ukrainian drones near Crimea, as well as three missiles fired over the strategic Kerch bridge, a node between this peninsula and the Russian region of Krasnodar. The attacks were described as “terrorist”.
“The night (the day before) an attempted ‘terrorist’ attack by the Kiev regime with 20 drones that targeted targets on the territory of the Crimean peninsula was thwarted,” the ministry said on Telegram. At least 14 of the drones were shot down by air defenses and another six were manipulated electronically, he said, without reporting any casualties or damage.
After videos were released on social networks showing smoke over the bridge installed over the Kerch Strait, the Kremlin-appointed governor for Crimea, Serguei Aksionov, assured that Russian anti-aircraft defenses prevented an attack in this area by shooting down three Ukrainian missiles, without the structure suffering damage and only affecting circulation in some points.
In conforming the series of attacks of this day, Maria Zajarova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, described the incursions as “’terrorist’ attacks”, which “will not go unanswered. The Crimean bridge is a purely civilian infrastructure, so any offensive is unacceptable. It has been the target of such attacks since the fall of last year,” she said.
This bridge, built by order of Russian President Vladimir Putin after the annexation of the peninsula in 2014, is of great importance to the Kremlin as it is a key artery for carrying military and civilian supplies. However, it has been targeted on several occasions since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.
Last week, a maritime drone hit a Russian tanker near the bridge and last month a direct bombardment of the bridge killed a couple last month and seriously injured their daughter, as well as leaving a stretch of road stranded. The damage seemed less serious than that caused by another attack in October, but it again highlighted the vulnerability of this construction.
Meanwhile, a drone was also intercepted in the Kaluga region, 150 kilometers southwest of Moscow, Governor Vladislav Shapsha reported on Telegram.
The day before yesterday, the authorities assured that they had destroyed a drone directed towards the capital, the target of multiple attacks in recent weeks.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian Minister of the Interior, Ihor Klymenko, indicated that a police officer died and 12 other people were injured when a Russian guided aerial bomb hit the city of Orikhiv, in the southern province of Zaporizhia, which is partially occupied. by Moscow. Four of the wounded were also officers, he added.
In addition, Moscow claimed that it regained control of the town of Urozhaine, in Lugansk, Ukraine’s easternmost province, after a nightly counterattack.
