Ukraine fought back amid nuclear plant scare

Russia reported a new Ukrainian drone strike a day after explosions occurred near Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine and Russia’s own military bases.

The latest incident followed last week’s massive explosion at an air base in Crimea annexed by Russia.

In a new assessment, Western officials said the incident rendered half of Russia’s Black Sea Naval Air Force useless in one fell swoop.

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Russia’s RIA and TASS news agencies, citing local Crimean officials, said Russian anti-aircraft forces appeared to have been operating near Yevpatoria port in western Crimea on Friday night.

A video posted by a Russian website showed what appeared to be a surface-to-air missile hitting its target. Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the video.

Tas quoted local officials as saying that Russian anti-aircraft forces shot down six Ukrainian drones sent to attack the town of Nova Kakhovka, east of the city of Kherson.

Ukraine has said recapturing Kherson is one of its main priorities.

“The Ukrainian army has treated the Russians to a magical night,” said Sery Klan, a member of the regional council in Kherson, which was disbanded by the Russian occupation forces.

The night before, multiple explosions had been reported in Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014, including near Sevastopol, the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, and Kerch, near the giant bridge to Russia.

Inside Russia, two villages were evacuated after an explosion at an ammunition depot in the Belgorod region, more than 100 km from Ukrainian military-held territory.

Kyiv has declined to comment publicly on the incidents in Crimea or in Russia, but has hinted that it is behind them using long-range weapons and sabotage.

Western officials said a massive explosion at Russia’s Saki airbase off the coast of Crimea on August 9 disabled more than half of the Black Sea Fleet’s fighter jets.

Russia denies any aircraft were damaged in the accident, but satellite images show at least eight planes burned and multiple large craters.

Moscow dismissed its Black Sea Fleet commander this week.

Ukraine’s apparent newfound ability to hit Russian targets behind its front lines could turn the tide of the conflict and disrupt the supply lines needed by Moscow to support its occupation. I hope we can.

A senior Pentagon official said Friday that President Joe Biden’s administration is preparing another security assistance package for Ukraine worth $775 million (A$1.1 billion).

A senior Ukrainian official said about half of the reported incidents in Crimea were Ukrainian attacks and half were accidents caused by poor Russian operations.

He emphasized that the attacks were carried out by saboteurs, not long-range weapons.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Ukraine wanted its attacks to have more impact in reducing Russia’s artillery forces, but Russia was adapting.

Ukraine also issued dire warnings about its front-line nuclear power plant, the Zaporizhia complex, and Russia cites “massive He said he believed he was planning a “provocation”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech Friday night that “if Russia’s radioactive threat continues, this summer could go down in the history of various European countries as one of the most tragic.” ‘ said.

“Because no nuclear power plant in the world has procedures in place to target a terrorist state.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of shelling the complex and risking a nuclear catastrophe.

Moscow rejected an international call to demilitarize its factories, and Putin renewed his accusations on Friday of Kyiv shelling factories in a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to Kremlin documents.

Macron’s office said Putin had agreed to a mission to Zaporizhia by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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Peter Frey
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