Ukraine launches massive attack with cruise missiles on Sevastopol, Crimea: Kremlin

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Ukraine launched a massive attack with 10 cruise missiles on a shipbuilding facility in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

According to a ministry statement, seven of 10 missiles were shot down by the Russian air defense systems, while three hit targets, injuring 24 people, damaging eight residential buildings and two vessels that were being repaired at the shipbuilding plant, and causing a massive fire.

Separately, three marine drones attacked a detachment of ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, destroying all of them, the ministry said.

Drone strikes inside Russia have risen dramatically in recent months, notably in Moscow, in Ukraine’s Crimea territory illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and in Russian regions bordering Ukraine, with authorities accusing Ukraine of being behind them.

Although Kyiv has not claimed responsibility, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in July that the attacks on Russian territory are an “inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process.”