The Governor of Crimea has claimed that Ukraine attacked Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol. He made the claim on his Telegram channel on Sunday morning.
“An unidentified object flew into the courtyard of the fleet’s headquarters,” Mikhail Razvozhayev, governor of Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea fleet, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “According to preliminary information, it is a drone.” He said Ukraine had decided to “spoil Navy Day for us”.
Razvozhayev said that five employees of the fleet headquarters had been injured in the incident and that the Federal Security Service (FSB) was investigating its circumstances.
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The Ukrainian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The incident is taking place as Russia celebrates Navy Day. The Navy which is a holiday in Russia sees military parades and other events across the country. The Governor went further to say that all local celebrations have been canceled for safety reasons.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly voiced plans to take back Crimea, which voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia shortly after the 2014 coup in Kiev. Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Gavrilov said this month that the Black Sea Fleet stationed in Crimea poses “a permanent threat” to Ukraine.
The spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence told reporters earlier in July while responding to a question about the use of US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, that military sites in Crimea were;
“Among the targets that must be struck in order to ensure the safety of our citizens, sites and Ukraine in general.”
He said that Crimea has become a hub for the movement of all equipment and weapons that come from the Russian Federation.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014, prompting a major row with the West which deepened over Moscow’s role in an insurgency of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The Black Sea Fleet is the fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, and other Russian ground and air forces in Crimea, are subordinate to the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces.
Sevastopol or Sebastopol is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city’s harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base throughout its history. Since the city’s founding in 1783 it has been a major base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, and it was previously a closed city during the Cold War.
As of January 2021, the city of Sevastopol, largely concentrated around Sevastopol Bay and with a total area of 864 square kilometres (334 sq mi), had a population of 429,922, while the larger conglomerate of surrounding towns and rural communities boosts the total population of the area to 509,992.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur