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A Crimean oil storage facility erupted in a massive fire on April 29 in what was suspected to be an attack by a Ukrainian drone, according to the governor of the Russian-installed Black Sea port city of Sevastopol.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility.
Mikhail Razvodiaev, the Moscow-appointed governor of Sevastopol, posted videos and photos of the blaze on his Telegram channel.
“Preliminary information indicates the fire was caused by a UAV impact,” he wrote.
photograph Post on social media Violent flames were seen blazing and thick black smoke billowing skyward.
Sevastopol, a major naval base housing Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, has been hit by a series of drone attacks since the Kremlin launched an invasion of Ukraine last year.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the drone attack, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukrainian forces intend to retake Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
Alex Kokcharov, London-based country risk analyst at S&P Global, said: “The fire was reportedly caused by a Ukrainian UAV strike early today. wrote on twitter.
‘Containment takes time’
In a follow-up message, Razvozhayev said no one was injured and firefighters were working at the scene to contain the blaze.
“There’s a lot of fuel, so it takes time to keep the fire under control,” he said.
In a subsequent message posted around noon local time, he said the fire was basically contained and firefighters continued to pour water over the scene.
Razvozhayev said last week that Russian forces destroyed Ukrainian drones that tried to attack the port, and another blew up, shattering the windows of several apartment buildings.
Russian politician and head of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov said local air defense systems had neutralized three drones over the peninsula.
“In parallel with the drone attack on Sevastopol this morning, air defense forces shot down one UAV and overwhelmed another via electronic warfare over the Republic of Crimea. There were no casualties or damage. I ask everyone to calm down,” Aksyonov wrote on his Telegram channel.
After its previous attack on Crimea, Kiev fell short of publicly claiming responsibility, but stressed that the country has the right to strike any target in response to Russia’s aggression.
“Crimea is Ukraine”
In early April, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia would not bow to demands to withdraw its troops from all Ukrainian territories, including Crimea.
“We are united by the principles of the UN Charter and our shared belief that Crimea is Ukraine and will return to Ukrainian rule,” Kleba said in a video link to a rally in the Romanian capital Bucharest. rice field.
“Every time you hear someone from all corners of the world say that Crimea is somehow special and should not be returned to Ukraine like the rest of our territory, you are one thing Ukraine categorically does not agree with these statements, said at the Black Sea Security Council.
The Kremlin has demanded that Kiev recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea and approve the September annexation of the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhia.
Ukraine rejected these demands and said it would not hold talks with Russia until Moscow’s troops were withdrawn from all occupied territories.
In the latest drone attack on Crimea, former president and deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev called for the “greatest military defeat” of the Ukrainian army.
Russian politicians particularly commented on Kiev’s statement about the need for the delivery of new weapons and its intention to reclaim Crimea.
“What is it? Contradictory gloominess of a drug-soaked conscience? Delirium of uncertainty? Pressure on patrons? Persistent paranoia in general? Undoubtedly, all these things together,” he says. I wrote on his Telegram channel on March 29.
According to Medvedev, the response must be “mass destruction of the personnel and military equipment involved in the counterattack by the neo-Nazi regime, inflicting the greatest military defeat on the Ukrainian army.”
The Kremlin has repeatedly called Kiev’s political leaders “neo-Nazis” and said the purpose of the so-called “special military operations” in Ukraine was to “demilitarize and de-Nazi” the country.
“The complete defeat of the enemy and the final deposit of the neo-Nazi Kiev regime with the complete demilitarization of the entire Ukrainian territory,” Medvedev said.
He also said the war would drag on unless Russia defeated the Ukrainian army.
Medvedev, a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has made hawkish comments on the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the past, saying Russia is prepared to use nuclear weapons if its territorial integrity is threatened. I am repeatedly warning.
Meanwhile, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said in mid-April that Ukraine would “test and use” non-prohibited weapons to liberate its territories, including Crimea. Stated.
Western allies have provided Kiev with significant military support, including tanks and armored vehicles, but have fallen short of Ukraine’s demands for heavier weapons such as long-range missiles and F-16 fighter jets.
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