News
Ukraine war
March 21, 2023 | 3:52 p.m
Russia’s Kalibr cruise missiles were destroyed in an explosion while being transported by train to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the attached Crimean peninsula, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announced Monday evening.
Ukrainian authorities stopped short of taking responsibility for the attack, but said the strike should prompt Russia to leave the Black Sea peninsula it illegally stole from Ukraine in 2014.
“For now, the way forward (for Russian forces in Crimea) is clear – they have to really make their way by rail,” said Natalia Homenyuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Southern Operations Command.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said late Monday that the rail-mounted missiles were destroyed by an explosion in Djankoy, a major railway junction in Crimea.
The agency hinted that Kiev was behind the attack, saying that this measure strengthens “the disarmament process in Russia, and prepares the Ukrainian Crimea to end the occupation.”
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said the missiles, which are designed to be launched from surface ships in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, have a range of more than 1,550 miles on land and 233 miles at sea.
The Russian authorities in Crimea said that the Ukrainian drones targeted civilian facilities in Dzhankoy.
Ihor Even, the Russian-installed head of Djanko’s administration, said the city had been attacked by drones.
A 33-year-old man was injured in a drone explosion.
He was taken to hospital to be treated for his injuries but is expected to survive.
Evin said debris from the blast destroyed power lines, a house, a shop and a college building.
All the drones were targeting civilian targets, said Oleg Krenchkov, adviser to Crimean President Sergei Aksenov.
All drones targeted civilian sites. One of them was hit over the Dzankoy Technical School and fell between the teaching area and the students’ residence,” he said on his Telegram channel.
There are no military sites nearby. The others fell in residential areas. In addition to explosives, each one carries shrapnel.”
A Russian military air base is located near Djankoy and several Ukrainian officials have claimed that the city and its surrounding areas have been turned into the largest Russian military base in Crimea.
with wire
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