Russia says it repelled drone attack in Crimea

UPDATE DAY

Russian authorities said on Tuesday that they had downed Ukrainian drones in Crimea the day before, a few days after a visit by President Vladimir Putin to this peninsula annexed by Moscow. 

< p>On Monday evening, “the anti-aircraft defense repelled a drone attack near the town of Djankoy, in Crimea”, the Russian Investigative Committee, the body responsible for the most important investigations, said in a statement.

“The targets of all the downed drones were civilian infrastructure”, he added.

The governor installed by Moscow in Crimea, Sergei Aksionov, reported a person injured by the falling debris from a downed drone on a house and a store.

An adviser to Mr. Aksionov, Oleg Kryuchkov, accused the Ukrainian authorities of having carried out the attack in “revenge” for the annexation of Crimea by Moscow, a few days after his ninth birthday.

On Saturday, to mark this anniversary, Vladimir Putin made a surprise trip to Crimea. He notably visited the Russian base in Sevastopol, the home port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

In the process, the Russian president visited Mariupol, a Ukrainian port city conquered by Russian forces after a siege that reduced much of this city to rubble.

Since the launch of Moscow's offensive against Ukraine, Crimea has repeatedly been the target of drone attacks.

At the beginning of March, Russia claimed to have repelled a “massive attack” by Ukrainian drones, reporting 10 downed aircraft.

Russia has a military base in the Jankoy region. In August 2022, this base was devastated by the explosion of an ammunition depot. Moscow had finally admitted to “sabotage”.