Thursday 14 September 2023

Sevastopol shipyard on fire, two ships damaged in Ukrainian missile attack on Crimean port.

 Extract from ABC News

Posted 
Smoke rises at a shipyard.
Russia says seven missiles were downed by Russia's air defence systems at the shipyard in Sevastopol.()

The Sevastopol Shipyard on the Crimean Peninsula was on fire early on Wednesday (local time) and two ships were damaged after Ukraine launched 10 missiles and three speedboat attacks on the port, according to Russia's defence ministry.

Seven missiles were downed by Russia's air defence systems and all three boats were destroyed by a patrol ship, the ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

"As a result of being hit by enemy cruise missiles, two ships under repair were damaged," the ministry said.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea and a major Black Sea port, said on Telegram that at least 24 people were injured.

"All emergency services are working on the site, there is no danger to civilian objects in the city," Razvozhayev said.

Smoke rises from a shipyard.
Smoke rises from the shipyard that was reportedly hit by Ukrainian missile attack in Sevastopol, Crimea.(Reuters TV)

The Ukrainian military took the unusual step of publicly claiming responsibility for the strike, something it does not typically do for attacks on Russia or the Crimea peninsula.

"On the morning of September 13 the Ukrainian armed forces conducted successful strikes on naval assets and port infrastructure of the occupiers at the docks of temporarily occupied Sevastopol," it said on Telegram.

A Ukrainian military spy agency official confirmed a large landing vessel and submarine were hit in an overnight attack.

"We do not comment on the means (used) for the strike," Andriy Yusov, the official, told Reuters.

Mr Yusov later told national television: "Those are significant damages. We can now say that with a high probability they are not subject to restoration."

Yuri Ihnat, spokesperson for Ukraine's air force, was wary on the Russian assertion that its units had downed most of the incoming missiles.

"It's hard to say how many they were capable of downing," Mr Ihnat told national television.

"It is important not to underestimate their anti-aircraft units. Perhaps they destroyed them. Perhaps not."

The strategic shipyard on the peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, builds and repairs ships and submarines of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

The fleet has launched numerous drone and missile attacks on Ukraine.

Two men stand side by side and look up towards the sky.
Governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhayev with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Crimea in March.(Sputnik: Russian Presidential Press Office via Reuters)

Mr Razvozhayev posted a night-time photo of flames engulfing what seemed to be port infrastructure.

Russian Telegram channels posted videos and more photos of massive flames at a facility alongside the water.

Ukraine has been saying in recent months that destroying Russia's military infrastructure helps Kyiv's counteroffensive.

Shipyard fire comes amid Russian drone attacks in Odesa

The attack in Sevastopol took place as Moscow launched drones against southern Ukraine's Odesa region.

The pre-dawn onslaught there damaged port and civilian infrastructure in the region's Izmail district — not far from the Crimean city — and wounded seven people, three seriously, Governor Oleh Kiper said.

Ukraine's air force said it intercepted 32 of 44 Shahed-type drones launched over the country overnight, most of them directed toward the southern parts of the Odesa region.

Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the ports of Reni and Izmail had been struck in an attack that damaged warehouses used for grain cargoes, oil storage tanks and administrative buildings.

The attack, which the military said lasted four and half hours, was the latest by Russia on Ukrainian port and grain facilities since Moscow quit a deal that had enabled Ukraine to safely export grain via the Black Sea.

"Another massive attack on the ports of the Danube Region," Mr Kubrakov wrote on Facebook.

"Despite the aggressor's attempts to reduce its (Ukraine's) export potential, the ports continue to operate. At the same time, every attack on the port infrastructure of Ukraine is an attack on the food security of the whole world," Mr Kubrakov said.

The fighting occurred as Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a summit that the US has warned could lead to a deal to supply Moscow's depleted troops in Ukraine with arms.

A medium shot of destroyed and burnt out trucks, next to a damaged shipping container and piles of dirt and rubble.
The governor of Odesa says seven people were wounded by drone attacks in the region overnight.(AP: Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office)

Reuters/AP


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