The Russian Defense Ministry said today that it had thwarted attacks by Ukrainian naval drones on its navy and civilian ships in the Black Sea, and the local governor said authorities had also shot down a drone over the Crimean city of Sevastopol, reports Reuters.
Kiev has denied that it attacked civilian ships, without directly addressing the claim that it attacked the Russian navy.
"During the night, the Armed Forces of Ukraine unsuccessfully tried to attack the patrol ships of the Black Sea Fleet "Sergei Kotov" and "Vasiliy Bykov" with three unmanned naval boats," according to the statement of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
It said the two ships were controlling the sea 340 kilometers southwest of Sevastopol and would continue to carry out their duties. Later, in its daily briefing, the ministry said navy ships had destroyed three more naval drones targeting civilian vessels.
"During the night, the regime in Kiev attempted a terrorist attack with three semi-submersible unmanned boats on Russian civilian transport vessels moving towards the Bosphorus Strait in the southwestern part of the Black Sea," the ministry said.
Russia shot down a drone over the Sevastopol district today, local governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said on the Telegram messaging application. He said that the felling caused an explosion on the ground and that the bushes caught fire.
An official of the Ukrainian president, Mykhailo Podolyak, told Reuters:
"Undoubtedly, such statements by Russian officials are fictitious and do not contain an iota of truth. Ukraine has not attacked, is not attacking and will not attack civilian vessels, or any other civilian objects. Russia has said that it will treat all ships leaving Ukrainian ports or entering Ukrainian ports as valid targets after the expiration of last month's UN-backed deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported across the Black Sea. Kiev has previously used drones to target a Russian naval base in Crimea and a bridge Russia built to the peninsula. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and Kiev has vowed to reclaim it along with other territory seized by Moscow since its full-scale invasion last year."
Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klimenko claims that last night Ukraine foiled an attempt to invade the north of the country by a Russian sabotage group.
"Last night, Ukrainian border guards in the Chernihiv region thwarted an attempt by an enemy sabotage-reconnaissance group to cross the state border," Klimenko announced on Telegram.
Klimenko stated that in the meantime, reserve forces of the Ukrainian State Border Service and the Army of Ukraine have been deployed with the aim of strengthening the area, reports Reuters.
After the arrival of the head of the Russian mercenary organization Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin in Belarus, Ukraine strengthened its military presence in its northern military sector.
The Ministry of Defense of Russia announced today that three Ukrainian unmanned boats attempted to attack the patrol ships of the Black Sea fleet last night.
"Last night, the Armed Forces of Ukraine unsuccessfully tried to attack the patrol ships of the Black Sea Fleet Sergej Kotov and Vasiliy Bykov with three unmanned boats," the statement said.
The ships are patrolling 340 kilometers southwest of Sevastopol, in the southwestern part of the Black Sea, reports TASS.
The Ministry stated that in repelling the attack, all three Ukrainian unmanned boats were destroyed by fire from the standard weapons of the Russian ships.
(BETA)
Igor Terekov, the mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, said that popular parts of the city were attacked by drones, as well as that two floors of a hostel were destroyed, reports Reuters.
"A fire broke out, and the emergency services are on the ground. Information about the victims is being determined," Terekov said on Telegram.
An unmanned aircraft crashed into a tower in the business district of Moscow, the mayor of the capital of Russia said early this morning, adding that air defense shot down several such aircraft.
"Air defense shot down several drones trying to move towards Moscow. One of those aircraft hit the tower, which was already the target of such an attack," said Mayor Sergey Sobyanin on Telegram.
Sobjanin said that the facade on the 21st floor of the tower was damaged and that the windows were broken on an area of 150 square meters.
"There is no information about victims," Sobjanin said, adding that emergency services are on the scene.
Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport was temporarily closed before returning to normal operations, TASS reported.
On the night between Saturday and Sunday, glass on several windows of two buildings in the business district "Moscow City" was broken after an attack by Ukrainian drones, the Russian authorities announced.
Attacks on and around Moscow, which is about 500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, have been rare since the conflict began in February 2022. However, in recent months, several drones have targeted Moscow, including a drone attack on the Kremlin in May 2023.
(BETA)
The war in Ukraine entered its 525th day. You can see what happened yesterday at the link below.
Bonus video:
