Ukraine Says It Hit Two Russian Warships in Strikes on Crimea

KYIV (Reuters) – The Ukrainian military said it hit two large Russian landing ships in attacks on the annexed Crimean peninsula early on Sunday, as well as a communications centre and other infrastructure used by the Russian navy in the Black Sea.

The statement did not say how it hit the targets, but a Moscow-installed official in the region reported a major Ukrainian air attack and said air defences had shot down more than 10 missiles over the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

“The defence forces of Ukraine successfully hit the Azov and Yamal large landing ships, a communications centre and also several infrastructure facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in temporarily occupied Crimea,” Ukraine’s military said.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, said on the Telegram messaging app that transport infrastructure including passenger boats was partially damaged.

“Of the six boats, five had their windows broken … During the day, the windows of the damaged boats will be replaced and as they are restored they will be brought back online,” he said.

Razvozhayev also said that three passenger buses, 13 school buses and one trolley bus were among the damaged vehicles during the overnight attacks.

Reuters could not immediately verify the extent of any damage.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by David Goodman and Louise Heavens)

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