OAN’s Roy Francis
8:34 AM – Friday, September 22, 2023
Ukraine struck the headquarters of the Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in a missile attack on Friday. The attack left a serviceman missing and the main building damaged.
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Sevastopol’s Russian-appointed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev confirmed the attack in a telegram post on Friday.
“The enemy launched a missile attack on the headquarters of the fleet,” Razvozhayev said.
The Russian Ministry of Defense also confirmed the attack on the city of Sevastopol on Telegram, saying that five of the missiles launched at the area had been shot down by air defense systems, however the building was damaged.
“This afternoon the Kyiv regime launched a missile strike on the city of Sevastopol,” the Defense Ministry posted. “While repelling a missile attack, five missiles were shot down by air defense systems. As a result of the attack, the historical headquarters building of the Black Sea Fleet was damaged. According to available information, one soldier was killed.”
Later the Defense Ministry retracted the statement about the killed soldier, saying that the servicemember was missing and not confirmed dead.
Sevastopol, the site of the attack, was annexed by Moscow in 2014 and now serves as the home of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. It is one of the larger and more active cities in the Crimean Peninsula. The governor initially issued an alert warning that another attack was possible urging citizens to remain indoors.
“Attention everyone! Another attack is possible,” he posted to Telegram. “Please do not go to the city centre. Do not leave buildings.”
The alert was later lifted, however the governor urged citizens to remain cautious.
The attack comes ten days after Ukraine had launched one of the biggest attacks on the fleet in area. Last week, attacks by Ukraine targeted naval forces and port infrastructure, damaging a submarine and a warship in the area.
Ukrainian officials did not claim responsibility for the latest attack, however Ukraine’s air force commander General Mykola Oleshchuk posted to Telegram hinting that they were responsible.
“We told you there’d be more,” he said in his post as he thanked the Ukrainian pilots.
Ukraine has targeted Russia Black Sea Fleet due to the important role that it plays for Russia in the war. The fleet is seen as the flagship unit of Russia’s navy, and the ships within that fleet have launched missiles into Ukraine causing severe damage.
The fleet is also currently thought to be working towards blocking the Black Sea shipping routes to prevent Kyiv from exporting grain, which is currently its main exported product.
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