MOSCOW (Parliament Politics Magazine) – A Ukrainian drone that was allegedly targeting the Black Sea fleet of Russia at Sevastopol was reportedly shot down on Saturday, according to the region’s newly appointed Russian leader.
It comes after a series of strikes this month on Russian installations and personnel on the annexation peninsula.
In the meantime, the president of Ukraine has praised a deal that will allow UN inspectors access to the nuclear power facility in Zaporizhzhia, which is controlled by Russia.
A video taken early on Saturday morning showed smoke coming from the Sevastopol area where Russia’s Black Sea fleet is stationed. The video could not be independently verified by BBC.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, the newly-installed Russian governor, downplayed the severity of the incident.
He said that the Ukrainian drone had been destroyed and the air defences of the fleet had been activated. He also said that it dropped on the headquarters’ roof. No one was wounded, and there wasn’t much damage.
Recently, there have reportedly been a number of drone attacks in Crimea, including one on a site close to Sevastopol on Thursday and the other on the harbour on Friday.
Nine Russian jets were destroyed earlier this month during an attack on the Saky Russian military installation on the western coast of Crimea.
Social media footage from the time showed groups of Russian vacationers escaping a nearby resort.
Ukraine has promised to recapture Crimea, which Russia attacked and occupied in 2014.
The Ukrainian government, however, has not affirmed or denied involvement in the recent attacks.
Moscow has attributed some of these attacks as sabotage, suggesting a special military action by Ukrainian forces or those who are deemed loyal to Kyiv.
Western sources say that these events are seriously affecting the operational and psychological state of Russian soldiers.
In a related event, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant could be rebuilt with the visit by the international inspectors.
He said after Vladimir Putin of Russia announced that Moscow will allow inspectors of the UN to access the site, which is located north of Crimea.
A nuclear disaster has been feared as a result of the Kremlin and Kyiv blaming one another for shelling the plant during the previous week.
Russia has continued to use its strategy of shelling cities at night, specifically focusing on Mykolaiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv among others.
Additionally, a purported assassination attempt against Mariupol’s Russian-installed mayor was unsuccessful.
Kostyantyn Ivashchenko, the mayor, was reportedly in a car when an explosive device detonated near the city’s zoo entrance, stated a correspondent for Russian state television.
In addition to that, on Saturday, following the departure of two more grain shipments from Ukraine, Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General spoke at a press conference in Turkey.
He claimed that seeing a ship carrying grain sailing toward the Horn of Africa had deeply touched him and that such shipments offered “urgently needed relief for those suffering from acute hunger.”
Through agreements reached last month with Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine, the ships can now sail safely.
Mr. Guterres continued by saying that movement of food and fertiliser from Russia was also crucial as the cost of living crisis grew serious with every passing day.
