FIREBALL RAGES IN CRIMEA AS ‘UKRAINE DRONE STRIKE’ HITS MAJOR FUEL DEPOT IN SEVASTOPOL

Sat 29 Apr 2023:

Following a suspected drone attack on a fuel storage tank, a massive fire broke out in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol.

The fire was given the highest rating in terms of how difficult it will be to extinguish, according to Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor, on Telegram on Saturday.

The fire was still burning but it had been contained and no one was injured. The oil reservoir fire did not cause any casualties and would not hinder fuel supplies in Sevastopol, he said.

“The four fuel tanks that were hit, they are practically burnt out already,” said Razvozhayev, adding an area of 1,000 square metres (11,000 square feet) had been engulfed in flames.

“The situation is under the control of our firefighters and all operative services.”

Footage shared on social media showed flames engulfing fuel storage tanks and a thick plume of black smoke rising over the city.

A spokesperson for Ukraine’s armed forces said he did not have any information to suggest Ukraine was responsible for Saturday’s fire.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Sevastopol has been repeatedly attacked by air. Ukraine has consistently stated its willingness to reclaim the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, sparking worldwide outrage.

Following previous attacks on Crimea, Ukraine has refrained from openly claiming responsibility, instead emphasizing its right to strike any target in response to Russian aggression.

The fire in Sevastopol comes a day after a barrage of Russian missiles hit residential areas in Ukraine killing 25 people.

Ten residential buildings were hit by missiles in Uman, in the Cherkasy region, officials said. One block of flats was destroyed. Eighteen people were injured in the attack, nine of whom were being treated in hospital.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged allies to provide his troops with better air defences, including fighter jets.

“Air defence, a modern air force – without which effective air defence is impossible – artillery, armoured vehicles. Everything that is necessary to provide security to our cities, to our villages, both in the hinterland and on the front lines,” Zelenskyy listed in a video message on Friday night.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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