Russian air defenses brought down 20 drones in the early hours of Saturday over Crimea, the Defense Ministry has revealed, calling the incursion an attempted “terrorist attack” by Ukraine.
The ministry wrote on Telegram that 14 UAVs were shot down, while six others were incapacitated by electronic warfare.
“There were no casualties or damage as a result of the thwarted terrorist attack,” the ministry noted.
The statement added that the destroyed drones had targeted unspecified facilities on the peninsula.
Several hours earlier, Oleg Kryuchkov, an aide to Crimea’s leader Sergey Aksenov, wrote on his Telegram channel that “air defenses had been activated over various parts of Crimea.”
Last Friday, the Russian military reported that it had downed ten plane-type UAVs and three more other drones which had attempted to strike Crimea’s critical infrastructure.
In late July, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had foiled a similar attack, involving some 25 UAVs.
Earlier that month, a raid by Ukrainian naval drones severely damaged a roadway section of the Crimean Bridge linking the peninsula to mainland Russia. The attack claimed the lives of a Russian married couple, while injuring their teenage daughter.
Crimea, which serves as the key base for the Russian Black Sea Fleet and a major logistics hub for its military, has seen numerous UAV and missile raids in recent months, with Moscow attributing them to Kiev.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu claimed that Kiev’s attacks on civilian infrastructure are meant to distract from its faltering offensive, which has been going on for more than two months but has failed to gain any ground.
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