KIEV LAUNCHES DRONE, MISSILE ATTACKS ON CRIMEA, RUSSIA SHELLS KHERSON

Tue 31 October 2023:

The Ukrainian military said on Monday it had hit a Russian air defence base on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in an attack with naval drones and missiles.

A strategically important air defence object on the west coast of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, was “successfully fired upon,” according to a press release issued by the armed forces.

Media reports suggest a position near the village of Olenivka was hit by US ATACMS missiles, injuring 17 soldiers and damaging five vehicles.

Moscow has not officially confirmed these reports. However, the Moscow-appointed governor of the port city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, posted on Telegram on Monday that forces of the Black Sea Fleet had beaten off a drone attack off the coast during the night.

In another attack around midday, eight Shadow Storm cruise missiles were intercepted over Crimea, the Russian Defence Ministry said on its Telegram channel.

According to Razvozhayev, two “objects” were intercepted over Sevastopol. A 57-year-old man was injured in the leg by falling debris.

The regional military governor in southern Ukraine, Oleksandr Prokudin, reported that at least two people had been killed and a dozen others injured by Russian shelling in the region on Monday.

One man was killed and another injured when Russian shells hit a warehouse in a village in the Kherson region.

Earlier, the Russian army fired on a bus in the city of Kherson, the regional capital, wounding seven passengers. During the night, an elderly woman died in the city after her flat in a multi-storey building was hit, Prokudin said.

He added that power supplies were cut off by enemy fire in at least four towns in the Kherson region.

The neighbouring Odessa region was also targeted by Russian attacks. The Ukrainian military reported that an Iskander cruise missile hit a ship repair plant in the port city of Odessa at dawn, injuring four employees.

Russia has been using Crimea as a supply base for its war against Ukraine, which it has been waging for more than 20 months. In recent weeks, Kiev has stepped up its attacks on military assets in Crimea.

Targets of successful attacks have included an important military shipyard, several naval vessels, and the base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which have all been severely damaged.

Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that the US-made F-16 combat aircraft it has promised Ukraine would be delivered within the next two weeks.

The jets will be sent to a base in Romania, where Ukrainian pilots will be trained. “This means that the training of Ukrainian pilots can start soon,” Rutte said.

He assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of the Netherlands’ continuing support. “The terrible situation in Israel and Gaza will not distract us from this,” he said.

Ukraine is set to receive more than 50 F-16s from the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway following agreement from the United States. When the jets will be deployed is not yet known.

-DPA

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