Russian-installed Crimean authorities claim Ukraine's UAVs attacked ammunition depot
On the morning of July 24, residents of the temporarily occupied Crimea heard powerful explosions. Sergei Aksyonov, head of the annexed peninsula's occupation authorities, said that Ukrainian drones allegedly hit an ammunition depot in the Dzhankoy district
He posted this on his Telegram channel.
According to him, 11 Ukrainian drones were allegedly shot down by air defense forces in the skies over Crimea. One of the UAVs hit an ammunition depot in the Dzhankoy district. Fragments of a drone also damaged a private house in the Kirovskiy district. Aksyonov urged residents to remain calm.
Video of the explosions in the area of Krasnohvardiysk was published by ASTRA.
According to Russian media, the occupiers have again blocked the Crimean Bridge.
In addition, the adviser to the "Crimean head", Oleg Kryuchkov, announced the organization of an operational headquarters.
Later, Aksyonov stated that the railway and the Dzhankoy-Simferopol highway had been suspended "for security reasons".
Aksyonov also added that he had decided to evacuate the population of nearby villages within a five-kilometer radius of the strike site in the Dzhankoy district to temporary accommodation centers. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties.
According to another Krymsky Veter telegram channel, three missiles, not UAVs, hit the ammunition depot near the village of Vilnyi, causing a fire.
Russian Ministry of Defense reacts to the attack
The Russian Ministry of Defense reacted to the events of July 24 and stated that they thwarted an attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime on the Crimean peninsula. They claimed that 17 drones were launched from Ukraine.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, they used electronic warfare to neutralize 14 Ukrainian drones, with 11 crashing into the Black Sea and 3 falling on the Crimean peninsula itself.
Additionally, they said that three UAVs were destroyed using anti-aircraft fire. The Russian Ministry of Defense made it clear that there were no casualties resulting from this alleged "terrorist attack".
Explosion on the Crimean bridge: what happened
The explosions on the Crimean bridge occurred in the morning of July 17, after which the occupation authorities declared an "emergency" and accused the Ukrainian military of the attack. Damage to the roadway was found on the spans, and 2 deaths were reported.
Ukraine's Security Service says all details of the explosion on the Crimean bridge will be disclosed after Ukraine wins the war against Russia.
Due to the night's incident, Vladimir Putin convened an emergency meeting, where he promised a "Russian response" to the explosion on the Crimean bridge.
Russian media claimed that the Ukrainian Defense Forces allegedly shelled the "land route" from Russia to Crimea over 20 times during the month.
Instead, Maxar Technologies published satellite images of the Crimean bridge after the nighttime explosion on July 17.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the UN that Russia was using the Crimean bridge to continue the war in Ukraine, and that it was built illegally.
Later, the Russian government said that the restoration of the Crimean bridge would take 2 months and cost RUB 1.3 billion.
On July 18, the Russian Defense Ministry again accused Ukraine of attacking the temporarily occupied Crimea with drones.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said at the UN that Russia is using the Crimean bridge to continue the war in Ukraine, and that it was built illegally.
On July 21, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the Crimean bridge a target of the Ukrainian military and said it should be completely dismantled. According to the president, the Crimean bridge is not just a logistical road, it is used to supply the war with ammunition, and this is done every day.
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