As the Ukrainian president ended his tour of North America, his country’s armed forces again attacked occupied Crimea, this time in broad daylight: one of the targets was the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet. As Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Canadian delegates, NBC News revealed that Joe Biden had promised him delivery of the long-awaited ATACMS long-range missiles the day before, albeit in small quantities.
Continued drone and missile attacks on Russian military installations in Crimea will, if not destroy, at least reduce air defense capabilities. “Around 12:00 (10:00 Lisbon), the Ukrainian armed forces launched a successful attack on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet command in temporarily occupied Sevastopol,” the Ukrainian military’s communications department said. While the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force Mykola Oleshchuk thanked the pilots involved, it is concluded that the British Storm Shadow or the French SCALP missiles, launched from the air, were used. Moscow said five rockets had been shot down and corrected the information to one missing after saying one soldier was dead.
The death of the commander of the Black Sea Fleet was broadcast on Russian channels, but was not confirmed.
Unconfirmed reports circulating on Russian channels attribute the death of the fleet commander, Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov, to the attack. In addition to the construction of undeniable symbolic importance, there are also reports of explosions at the Gvardeyskoye air base and in the area of the Sevastopol thermal power plant. The fact is that the peninsula annexed by Moscow is increasingly being attacked. A month ago, an S-400 air defense system was destroyed by missiles. On August 24, on the occasion of Independence Day, a special operations team landed on the western tip of Crimea. Operation ‘Force Awakening’ culminated in the flag-raising on land that Moscow assured was its own, despite no international recognition. “Like it or not, the future of Crimea belongs to Russia forever,” said Russian MNO spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
On the 13th, as Vladimir Putin met with Kim Jong-un, another missile attack hit a ship and a submarine undergoing repairs in Sevastopol’s dry dock. Hours later, another attack destroyed another S-400 system, leaving the peninsula more vulnerable. The attacks continued and included the Saky airfield, where a dozen fighter jets were based, a Pantsir defense system and a drone training center, which the Ukrainian Secret Services (SBU) said was hit; and a command post for the Russian fleet near Sevastopol.
Faced with these attacks, Ukraine’s national security adviser said the Russians have two options: either they destroy the fleet, or it is destroyed “according to the salami principle: the process is painful, but the Ukrainian armed forces carry out attacks with high precision.” technology exclusively in military infrastructure,” wrote Oleksiy Danilov. If the “season of explosions” has begun, as southern army spokeswoman Natalia Humeniuk said, Ukraine still has “a long way to go” to “destroy all enemy capabilities” in Crimea, he said.
After New York (UN General Assembly) and Washington (Congress and White House), Zelensky was received in Ottawa by the Canadian Prime Minister. Justin Trudeau has promised to provide more than 450 million euros in aid, including 50 armored vehicles. The Ukrainian leader, who then went to visit the Ukrainian community in Toronto, the day before the North American president assured him that the ATACMS missiles would ultimately go to Ukraine. According to NBC News, no decision has been made yet on which version or quantity, but it will be in small numbers. According to the WashingtonPostthe version to be delivered is cluster bombs instead of a single warhead.
Source: DN
