The reported attempt to disrupt civilian traffic in the Black Sea was the second in as many days
FILE PHOTO: A warship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the harbor of Sevastopol © Sputnik/Konstantin Mikhalchevsky
Ukraine attacked a Russian military ship escorting a civilian vessel in the Black Sea with a speedboat-type drone, the Russian Defense Ministry reports, marking the second case in as many days.
The overnight incident happened in the southwestern part of the sea and ended in failure for Kiev, as the Russian military detected and destroyed the attacking watercraft, a defense official said on Wednesday at a daily briefing.
The ministry reported a similar attack on Tuesday, saying it involved three naval drones targeting Russian civilian vessels sailing towards the Bosphorus. The convoy’s escorts thwarted the operation, it added.
Kiev denied the allegation, with presidential adviser Mikhail Podoliak declaring that Ukraine never attacks civilian targets.
Last month, a naval drone explosion killed two civilians traveling in a car on the Crimean Bridge, an attack for which Kiev all but claimed credit. A spokesman for the SBU security agency promised at the time to eventually release details about what happened.
READ MORE: CNN showcases ‘Ukrainian drones that attacked Crimean Bridge’
Ukrainian officials declared the Russian transport link across the Kerch Strait to be a legitimate military target that needs to be “neutralized,” as President Vladimir Zelensky put it.
Moscow has accused Kiev of increasingly using terrorist tactics after a failure to achieve battlefield victories in its much-hyped summer counteroffensive.
