Russian authorities said on Tuesday that they had shot down Ukrainian drones in Crimea the day before, a few days after a visit by President Vladimir Putin to this peninsula annexed by Moscow.
On Monday evening, “the anti-aircraft defense repelled a drone attack near the city of Djankoy, in Crimea,” said in a statement the Russian Investigative Committee, the body responsible for the most important investigations.
“The targets of all the downed drones were civilian infrastructure,” he added.
The governor installed by Moscow in Crimea, Sergei Aksionov, reported a person injured by the fall of debris from a drone shot down on a house and a store.
An adviser to Mr. Aksionov, Oleg Kryuchkov, accused the Ukrainian authorities of carrying out the attack in “revenge” for the annexation of Crimea by Moscow, a few days after his ninth birthday.
On Saturday, to mark this anniversary, Vladimir Putin made a surprise trip to Crimea. He notably visited the Russian base in Sevastopol, the home port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
In the process, the Russian president went to Mariupol, a Ukrainian port city conquered by Russian forces after a siege which reduced a large part of this city to ruins.
Since the launch of Moscow’s offensive against Ukraine, Crimea has repeatedly been the target of drone attacks.
In early March, Russia claimed to have repelled a “massive attack” by Ukrainian drones, reporting 10 downed aircraft.
Russia has a military base in the Jankoy region. In August 2022, this base was devastated by the explosion of an ammunition depot. Moscow had finally admitted a “sabotage”.