Enormous smoke cloud at Russia’s naval headquarters in Crimea after drone assault

A drone has hit Russia’s navy headquarters in Crimea, officers stated, inflicting enormous plumes of smoke to billow from the constructing.

The assault is known to have struck on the coronary heart of the closely fortified Black Sea fleet HQ in Sevastopol on Saturday morning.

The drone was shot down and fell into the roof, inflicting a hearth, officers within the Russian-controlled peninsula declare.

Inside hours, massive site visitors jams have been reported on roads out of Sevastopol, which is the biggest metropolis on the Crimean peninsula and the realm’s most vital port and naval base.

It got here a day after explosions erupted close to army bases in Russian-held areas of Ukraine and even Russia itself in obvious shows of Kyiv’s rising capability to pummel Moscow’s property removed from entrance traces.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the pro-Russian Sevastopol mayor, initially wrote on his Telegraph channel {that a} drone had flown into the Black Sea fleet’s HQ and had not been shot down regardless of efforts.

He later issued a clarification: “They shot down an UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] proper above the fleet headquarters. It fell on the roof and caught fireplace … Properly carried out boys.” There have been no casualties, he stated.

Footage posted on social media confirmed enormous plumes of smoke rising from the naval base, which is close to the coast.

It was unclear the place the drone had departed from, and the Ukrainian armed forces haven’t stated they have been behind the strike.

The assault got here simply weeks after one other drone strike hit the Black Sea fleet HQ web site, injuring six individuals, which prompted Russia to shore up its defences in Crimea.

There have been additionally enormous blasts at an air base in Crimea final week. In a brand new evaluation, a Western official stated that incident had rendered half of Russia’s Black Sea naval aviation pressure ineffective in a stroke.

One other explosion was reported at an air base this week in Belbek, close to Sevastopol. On the alternative finish of the peninsula, the sky was additionally lit up at Kerch close to an enormous bridge to Russia, the place Moscow stated it shot down a drown.

Inside Russia, two villages have been evacuated after explosions at an ammunition dump in Belgorod province, greater than 100 km from territory managed by Ukrainian forces.

Ukrainian authorities have stopped wanting publicly claiming accountability for assaults in Crimea or inside Russia, whereas nonetheless hinting that it’s behind them utilizing long-range weapons or sabotage.

In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, a peninsula on the prime of the Black Sea and a well-liked vacation vacation spot with Russians, from Ukraine.