Ukraine drones ‘obliterate’ Putin’s Black Sea fleet inflicting mass airport panic
Ukraine has reportedly launched drone attacks on a number of Russian military targets in recent days, including the Black Sea fleet in the port of Novorossiysk in Krasnodar Krai
Russian media outlet Astra has reported that on the night of 6 July, drones targeted Russia’s Black Sea Fleet at the port of Novorossiysk in Krasnodar Krai.
The alleged strikes have yet to receive an official comment from Ukraine, and independent verification of the claims by Ukrainian outlet Kyiv Independent were unsuccessful. An air alert was issued in the city for several hours, with air defence systems being activated.
On Sunday, Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of drone attacks, causing disruption in Russian air travel. This came shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced agreements with Western partners to increase Kyiv’s drone production.
Ukraine regularly targets military sites within Russia as the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv continues.
Social media images showed crowds gathered at Russian airports, including major international hubs in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled due to Ukrainian drone strikes on Saturday and overnight, according to Russia’s Transport Ministry.
Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian drones injured two civilians in Russia’s Belgorod region near the border, as reported by regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Ukraine revealed it had launched a strike on a Russian airbase on Saturday, just as Russia stepped up its assault on Ukraine with a wave of overnight drone attacks, dashing any hopes of a breakthrough in ending the conflict that has now dragged on for over three years.
According to the Ukrainian military’s General Staff, the Borisoglebsk airbase in Russia’s Voronezh region was targeted, as it is home to Russia’s Su-34, Su-35S, and Su-30SM fighter jets.
In a Facebook post, the General Staff detailed the attack, claiming to have hit a depot storing glide bombs, a training aircraft, and “possibly other aircraft.”
However, there was no immediate response from Russian officials regarding the strike, reports the Express US.
In a separate development, two Dutch intelligence agencies revealed on Friday that Russia is ramping up its use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, including the toxic gas chloropicrin, which dates back to World War I. The Netherlands’ military intelligence and security service, working in tandem with German intelligence, found that Russia’s use of forbidden chemical weapons has become “standardized and commonplace” throughout Ukraine.
The investigation found that Russian forces used chloropicrin and riot control agent CS against Ukrainian troops, forcing them out of shelter and making them easy targets.
Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans called for additional sanctions against Moscow and sustained military assistance for Kyiv in response to the findings.
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