Russian Navy Fleet foiled drone strike in Gulf of Crimea: Official

The Russian Navy thwarted a drone strike on the port of Sevastopol on Saturday. (file)

Moscow:

The Russian Navy on Saturday foiled a drone strike at the port of Sevastopol, which is home to Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet, in Russia-linked Crimea, Moscow-founded officials said.

“For several hours from 04:30 this morning, various air defense systems in Sevastopol thwarted drone strikes,” Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozayev said on Telegram.

“All UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) have been shot down.”

Mr Razvozayev previously said that the Russian Navy was repelling a drone strike.

“Ships of the Black Sea Fleet are driving a UVA (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) in Sevastopol Bay,” he said in the early hours of Saturday.

The governor said city services were on “alert”, but added that no “civil infrastructure” had been damaged.

A student dormitory at an art college near the port saw “a window pane cracked”, but “no damage was done”, he said.

He called upon the residents of the city not to post videos of the incident on social media.

“It should be clear to everyone that such information is very much needed for the Ukrainian Nazis to understand how our city is protected,” he said.

Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.

Its forces attacked Ukraine from multiple directions, including Crimea, in February this year.

The announcement came as Ukrainian forces launched a retaliatory strike to retake land in the Russian-occupied south.

City officials said the port was “temporarily” closed to boats and ferries.

Earlier this week, Mr Razvozayev said a drone had struck a thermal power station near Sevastopol.

The Russian fleet stationed in the port was also attacked with drones in July.

(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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