‘Our flag flies once again in Ukrainian Crimea’: Kyiv reveals how its special forces staged daring amphibious landing in Russian-occupied peninsula which Ukraine has vowed to reclaim from Putin’s regime

Ukraine’s special forces have again raised the country’s flag in Russia-annexed Crimea after staging a daring “special operation,” Kyiv’s military intelligence chiefs revealed tonight.

Kiev has repeatedly expressed its intention to take back Crimea, which has been under Russian control since 2014.

Ukraine’s GUR intelligence agency said its special forces landed overnight on the western coast of Crimea, near the towns of Olenivka and Mayak, where they were “engaged in battle.”

“As a result, the enemy suffered personnel losses. Enemy equipment was destroyed,” the report said, adding that the “state flag flew again in Ukrainian Crimea.”

The strike, which is part of a “special joint operation” with the country’s navy, comes as Norway announced it would donate fighter jets to Ukraine to bolster its Soviet-era air force.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Independence Day, announced that his country would donate F-16 fighter jets to the country, adding that details on the number of aircraft and a time frame would be revealed “in due course.” would be revealed. .

Norway is the third country after Denmark and the Netherlands to pledge F-16s to Ukraine, which has long sought the jets to augment its war effort.

The successful operation is one rare demonstration proving Ukrainian forces can conduct ground operations in Crimea, which Russia seized and annexed in 2014.

Short and dark video footage shows a group of Ukrainian soldiers carrying out a pre-dawn attack believed to have been directed against Russian defense systems.

You can see the armed special forces sailing towards Crimea in dinghies before launching an attack on the Russian stationed near Olenkivka and raising the Ukrainian flag there.

“Special forces landed on the coast near the settlements of Olenivka and Mayak…the enemy suffered personnel losses, enemy equipment was destroyed. The Ukrainian flag also flew again in Ukrainian Crimea,” the GUR military intelligence said on Telegram earlier today.

It added that Ukrainian special forces left Crimea after completing their tasks, without going into further detail.

Locals heard explosions near the village of Mayak, while local media reported a fight involving boats and planes.

Russia did not comment on the report, which coincided with Ukraine’s Independence Day.

In his message to the Ukrainian people, President Volodimir Zelensky urged Ukrainians “not to lose faith in these difficult times.”

He added in a Telegram message after a visit to Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv: “We have honored the memory of the fallen defenders of our country.”

He added that freedom is a “value for each of us and we fight for it.”

The location of the ‘special operation’, carried out by the Ukrainian navy and military intelligence, is close to where Ukraine was a day earlier destroyed a Russian S-400 Triumf air defense system.

Ukrainian officials released video yesterday of the air defense system detonating in Olenevka, a town on Cape Tarkhankut in Crimea, following the attack.

“As a result of the explosion, the installation itself, the missiles and the personnel installed on it were completely destroyed,” said Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko.

Russian sources believe the blast was caused by a Storm Shadow missile delivered to Ukraine by Britain and France.

In today’s pre-dawn attack, radar stations Nebo-M and Kasta-2E2 may have been targeted at around 03:50.

Russian sources suggested that ten people came in two dinghies and claimed they had fired on a campsite.

Earlier, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, had alluded to action in Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed on Wednesday to end Russia’s occupation of Crimea, even though Russia shows no signs of leaving the peninsula.

The Kremlin wants Kiev to recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea, as well as the September annexation of the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhia.

Ukraine has vowed to expel the Russians from all occupied territories and has ruled out all talks with Moscow until it fully reclaims control of its country.

Crimea’s unique position in the Black Sea makes it a strategically important asset for anyone in control of it, and Russia has fought for it for centuries.

Earlier this month, Ukraine’s secret service SBU shared a video showing how a Ukrainian experimental kamikaze drone hit Vladimir Putin’s £3 billion bridge that connected Russia to Crimea, causing a massive explosion.

The daring attack of the ‘Sea Baby’ drone last month caused huge explosions on the 12-mile crossing.

The images, seen by CNNshows the naval kamikaze drone, armed with up to 850 kg of explosives, sailing towards the bridge under cover of darkness before crashing into the intersection, sending debris flying through the air.

Separate images released by the SBU and Ukrainian sources showed the magnitude of the explosion from other angles as the attack hit the intersection which has separate road and rail links.

It is the first time that the SBU has openly claimed responsibility for the attack carried out by the Ukrainian navy.

A couple were killed and their 14-year-old daughter was seriously injured after the explosions on the Crimean Bridge, a key supply line for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine and a prestige project personally opened by Putin.

Part of the crossing was destroyed in the twin attack, with pictures of twisted metal barriers, debris and a damaged car dealing a major blow to Moscow’s war effort.

Dashcam footage showed drivers braking sharply after the explosions destroyed parts of the crossing and debris flew at them.