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 another Russian military ship escorting a civilian vessel in the Black Sea with a speedboat-type drone, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday, marking the second such incident in as many days.
The overnight incident occurred 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 claimed.
The ministry reported a similar attack on Tuesday, saying it involved three naval drones targeting civilian Russian vessels sailing towards the Bosphorus. The convoy’s escorts thwarted the attack, it added.
Kiev denied the allegation, with presidential adviser Mikhail Podoliak insisting that Ukraine does not attack civilian targets.
Last month, a naval drone explosion killed two civilians traveling in a car over 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 the operation.
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Ukrainian officials declared the Russian transport link across the Kerch Strait to be a legitimate military target that needs to be “neutralized,” according to President Vladimir Zelensky.
Moscow has accused Kiev of increasingly using terrorist tactics after a failure to achieve battlefield victories in its much-hyped summer counteroffensive.
