(Reuters) – The city’s appointed governor said on Saturday that a drone strike caused a fire at a fuel storage facility in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, sending a plume of black smoke into the sky before it was extinguished.
Experts checked the site and “it became clear that only one drone managed to reach the oil tank,” Mikhail Razvozhev said on messaging app Telegram, adding that no one was hurt in the fire.
Another drone was shot down, Razvozhiev added, and its wreckage was found on the beach near the station.
Ukraine lacks long-range missiles that can reach targets in places like Sevastopol, but it is developing drones to overcome this hurdle.
Moscow has accused Kiev of sending waves of air and sea drones to attack Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
In a daily Facebook update, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said the units had hit “two fuel and lubricant depots, two air defense systems, an artillery unit and the enemy’s last important target,” but gave no further details.
[1/10] A view showing smoke rising after an alleged drone attack in Sevastopol, Crimea, April 29, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer
Ukrainian officials do not usually claim responsibility for the bombings at military sites in Crimea, although they sometimes celebrate them using euphemistic language.
A Ukrainian military intelligence official said that more than 10 tanks of oil products with a capacity of about 40,000 tons were intended for use by Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, RBC Ukraine reports.
The official, Andrei Yusov, did not say in comments reported by RBC that Ukraine was responsible for the explosion, but rather described the blast as “God’s punishment” for a Russian strike on a Ukrainian city on Friday.
“This punishment will be long-term. In the near future, it is better for all residents of temporarily occupied Crimea not to be near military installations and installations that provide the aggressor’s army,” Yusuf was quoted as saying by RBC.
Ukraine says control of all of its legal territory, including Crimea, is a prerequisite for any peace deal.
Sergei Aksionov, the Russia-appointed president of Crimea, said on Telegram that on Saturday, air defense and electronic warfare forces shot down two drones over the region.
Reporting by Reuters. Edited by William Mallard
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