The Russian military has prevented an attempted “terrorist attack” on Crimea’s critical infrastructure, according to the Defense Ministry, which claimed over a dozen drones were shot down or suppressed electronically overnight.
Air defense systems engaged and destroyed ten plane-type UAVs, while “three more drones were suppressed by electronic warfare,” the military said in a brief statement on Friday morning.
The failed attack caused no casualties or damage, according to the military.
In a separate attack on Friday, Ukrainian forces attempted to strike the Russian Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk in Krasnodar Region using naval drones.
In recent months, Kiev has intensified drone attacks on the Crimean peninsula, including Sevastopol, which serves as the main base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Last month, the Defense Ministry said it had intercepted a mass strike on the peninsula’s critical infrastructure, involving nearly 30 UAVs.
It also came after a Ukrainian maritime drone attack on the Crimean Bridge, which damaged one section of the roadway and claimed the lives of a Russian couple, and injured their teenage daughter.
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 almost two months but has failed to gain any ground.