Ukraine Delivers Biggest Crimea Attack After Hitting Russian Black Sea HQ

Ukraine has carried out a large-scale drone attack across the Black Sea and Crimea that comes after Kyiv claimed success in hitting a Russian military headquarters on the occupied peninsula.

Ukraine intends to recapture Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, and the peninsula hosts many military installations that have come under increasing attack as Kyiv seeks to degrade Russian logistics and equipment.

The Russian defense ministry said on Thursday that it had shot down 19 drones and that explosions were heard in the Crimean settlements of Novofedorivka, Saky, Yevpatoriya, Dzhankoi and Balaklava.

"An attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack with aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles on objects on the territory of the Russian Federation was stopped," the defense ministry said, according to state news agency Tass.

But Russian social media channels painted a different picture, as explosions and the sound of drones hitting targets could be heard in video uploads.

The Baza Telegram channel, which is linked to Russia's security services, reported on Thursday morning "at least seven drones have been shot down in just the last 20 minutes" with witnesseses reporting the largest drone attack they had seen.

Meanwhile, three drones were downed over Kursk, Belgorod and Orlov in central and southern Russia, Moscow said. Belgorod, is just 25 miles from the Ukrainian war's front line and has experienced daily air assaults this month.

This follows a rare admission of responsibility by Kyiv for a substantial strike on a Russian military target. On Wednesday, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) told Ukrainska Pravda that an attack on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet near Sevastopol had killed troops and destroyed military equipment.

The SSU said the strike was a joint operation with Ukraine's Air Force and Navy and that Russian generals had "designated this base as their backup command post, so that they could not be targeted at the main place of deployment."

In the last few weeks, Ukraine is believed to have launched a number of successful attacks on Crimea. On September 13, Ukrainian missile strikes severely damaged the Ropucha-class ship Minsk and the Kilo-class submarine Rostov-on-Don in a Sevastopol dry dock.

Other targets purportedly included Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, with videos of attacks on August 23 and September 15 showing very large explosions.

The Kerch bridge which links Crimea with the Russian region of Krasnodar has also been subject to attacks and repeated closures.

Newsweek has emailed the Ukrainian and Russian defense ministries for comment.