Aug 12 (Reuters) – Ukrainian forces struck the Crimean bridge and other unspecified targets on the Crimean peninsula on Saturday in a flurry of rocket and drone attacks, but there were no casualties or damage, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. .
Russia’s foreign ministry has vowed retaliation for what it called a “terror attack” on the Crimean bridge, which Moscow forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine had unsuccessfully tried to attack the bridge across the Kerch Strait with S-200 rockets, forcing it to be temporarily closed to traffic. A new attack on Saturday afternoon closed the bridge again.
The 19-kilometre bridge, linking Crimea to Russia, has been the target of repeated attacks by Ukrainian forces since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
“The Ukrainian missile was detected in time and was intercepted in the air by Russian air defense systems. No damage or casualties were reported,” the Defense Ministry said.
In a statement posted earlier on the Telegram messaging app, Russia-installed Crimea Governor Sergei Aksyonov said two rockets had been shot down by air defenses near the bridge. He also assured that the bridge had not been damaged.
Aksyonov later reported a third failed rocket attack on the bridge.
“Thank you to our air defense forces for their high level of professionalism and vigilance,” he wrote on Telegram.
Images circulating on Russian social media on Saturday appeared to show the bridge engulfed in smoke. Reuters was unable to verify the images.
“BARBARIAN ACTIONS”
Ukraine rarely publicly claims responsibility for such attacks, but has claimed that destroying Russia’s military infrastructure is crucial to its counteroffensive.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the latest attacks on the bridge, saying they pose a danger to innocent lives and civilian infrastructure.
“There can be no justification for such barbaric actions and they will not go unchallenged,” he wrote on Telegram.
Separately, Russian forces destroyed 20 Ukrainian drones launched against the Crimean peninsula early on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
There were no casualties or damage as a result of the drone strikes, the ministry said on Telegram. He claimed that 14 drones were destroyed by air defense systems and six were killed via electronic tools.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the report. It was not clear what the target of those attacks had been. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Felix Light, Writing by Gareth Jones, Editing in Spanish by Manuel Farías)
Source: Ambito
