Russian cruise missiles destroyed in Crimea blast, Ukraine says

Ukraine’s defence ministry has said an explosion in the city of Dzhankoi in Crimea destroyed Russian cruise missiles intended for use by Moscow’s Black Sea fleet.

“An explosion in Dzhankoi city in the north of temporarily occupied Crimea destroyed Russian Kalibr-KN cruise missiles as they were being transported by rail,” the ministry’s main intelligence directorate said on Monday. It did not claim responsibility.

It said the missiles, designed to be launched from surface ships of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, had an operational range of more than 2,500km (1,550 miles) on land and 375km at sea.

Ihor Ivin, the Russian-installed head of the Dzhankoi administration, was quoted as saying the city had come under attack from drones, and that a 33-year-old man suffered a shrapnel injury from a downed drone. He was in hospital and expected to survive.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior ministry, circulated footage he said reportedly showed the train station area in the city. The footage showed a loud single fiery blast followed by a plume of smoke in the night sky.

Russian state news agency Tass quoted Ivin as saying on Krym-24 TV that a house, school and grocery store caught fire, and that the power grid sustained damage.

While Ukraine did not claim responsibility for Monday night’s attack, it has shown it is able to strike at long-distance targets in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Russia’s Black Sea flagship vessel, the Admiral Makarov, was damaged in a drone attack in October last year on the Crimean port of Sevastopol, according to an examination of video footage.

Ukraine is also presumed to have struck the bridge connecting the peninsula with Russia, the Saky aerodrome, and the naval headquarters building in Sevastopol.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has always vowed to liberate Crimea, together with all of occupied southern and eastern Ukraine.

More details soon …