Russia says drone attack on Crimea port ‘repelled’

One drone was shot down while another exploded on its own, says Russia-backed Crimea governor.

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has repelled a drone attack on the Crimean port of Sevastopol, says the city’s Moscow-installed governor.

“An attempted attack on Sevastopol was repelled from 03:30 [00:30 GMT]”, Mikhail Razvojayev said on Telegram on Monday.

“A surface drone [naval] was destroyed by the anti-sabotage forces, the second exploded by itself,” he said, adding that no damage was reported.

Passenger ferry service in the port city was suspended, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported, citing Sevastopol’s transport authorities.

No reason was given, but the agency said traffic had been shut down in the past due to drone strikes or storms.

Sevastopol was annexed by Russia along with the rest of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, but is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine.

There was no immediate response from Ukraine. Kiev almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks in Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.

Since the large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Crimea has repeatedly been the target of aerial and sea drone strikes.

There have been several acts of sabotage against Russian army bases, conscription offices and railways used by the army as supply lines since Russia began its military campaign in Ukraine.

In April, Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, accused Ukraine and Western countries of launching “an aggressive ideological and recruiting campaign” to incite Russians, particularly youths, into armed uprising.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy has promised to recapture all Ukrainian land Russia has now occupied, including Crimea.

Many former Eastern Bloc states have more than doubled their military spending since Russia’s annexation of Crimea.