Russia claims responsibility for Ukrainian drone attack on occupied Crimea

A Ukrainian drone strike early on July 15 targeted a coastal area south of Sevastopol in occupied Crimea, claimed Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-appointed commander in chief of the occupied city.

The news comes amid numerous reports of Ukrainian drone attacks across Russia overnight.

Razvozhayev claimed at 4:10 a.m. local time that Russian defenses shot down at least one drone over Cape Fiolent on the southern coast of Crimea. The attack ended at 6:20 a.m. A drone fragment fell on a house and damage occurred, but no one was injured, he added.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had shot down up to six drones over Crimea.

The Telegram channel Crimean Wind wrote that residents had heard at least eight explosions and reported impacts at Cape Fiolent.

The target area was a base of a Russian military unit equipped with S-300 or S-400 air defense systems, the broadcaster claimed.

Ukraine has not commented on the attacks. The Kyiv Independent could not confirm the allegations.

According to Crimean Wind, the Russian military unit was located near cottages, one of which was damaged by drone debris.

Kyiv has carried out a series of successful attacks on Crimea in recent months, often targeting anti-aircraft batteries.

Federico Borsari, a Leonardo Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), told the Kyiv Independent on June 12 that the series of Ukrainian attacks on occupied Crimea could help weaken Russian air defenses in the region and reduce the threat to Ukraine’s tactical aviation.

According to a Russian official, a drone crashed into a power substation in Lipetsk Oblast

The drone “hit the site of a power substation in the Stanovlyansky district,” Lipetsk Region Governor Igor Artamonov said on July 15.