One ship was damaged in a massive drone strike against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet this morning. This is among several attacks Russia claims Britain is behind.
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It is reported that ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet intercepted both the drones in the air and in the water in the Sevastopol Bay. This is what the governor of the city of Sevastopol in the Crimea, Mikhail Razvogachev, wrote in a telegram on Saturday afternoon.
Sevastopol is the main port of the Black Sea Fleet.
– Razvozgayev wrote that this was the largest attack since the start of the Ukraine war.
He says the attacks should have started a little before 5 p.m. Saturday. They must have lasted for several hours. The Russian Defense Ministry confirms that a naval minesweeper was slightly damaged.
– No facilities were hit in the city. The situation is under control. Razvozjev wrote that all the drones were shot down.
The port is now temporarily closed, according to authorities. They have already identified who they believe is responsible for the attack.
The British led the way
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Britain bears the responsibility. British specialists led the work to prepare for the attack, said the Russian governor. Independent sources did not confirm these allegations.
Earlier this week, Razvozjayev said a drone had attacked a power station near Sevastopol. But he believes that this will not affect the supply in Sevastopol or the rest of Crimea.
Ukraine’s Crimea has been under Russian control since Russia annexed it in 2014.
There have been several attacks on Krym in recent months. At the beginning of October, Krymbro, which connects Krym with the Russian mainland, was damaged in a violent explosion. Three people were killed.
Also in July, the Black Sea Fleet was attacked by a drone.
Great Britain was behind the vandalism at Nord Stream
In September, Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea were attacked. The Russian Ministry of Defense now claims that the British were involved.
Russia has not provided any evidence for these accusations.
– According to the information available, representatives of the British Navy participated in the planning and execution of the terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea on September 26, as the Ministry of Defense wrote in a briefing on cable.
The British strongly denied these accusations.
On Saturday, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said the allegations were broadly false. According to Reuters, a spokesperson for her said in a statement:
To cover up the disastrous handling of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry has resorted to widely false accusations.
– The last fabricated story that talks about what is happening in the Russian government more than it talks about the West.
Do this to get the focus away from yourself
One expert says Russia’s accusations that the British helped Ukraine launch drone attacks on Crimea and were behind the Nord Stream explosions are meant to distract themselves.
Lieutenant Colonel and Principal Geir Hagen Carlsen at the Staff College says Russia’s accusations are not credible.
It is not an unknown strategy for the Russians to accuse others of doing things they themselves are involved in or suspect, Karlsen tells NTB.
He points to allegations that the United States has chemical and biological laboratories and that Ukraine is preparing to use dirty and radioactive bombs as examples of previous Russian accusations that have been refuted.
– When it comes to Nord Stream, of course no one believes the story that the British were behind the attack. Carlsen says the first accusations came early on that the British operated from Olafsvern in Norway.
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