Ukraine on Saturday fired cruise missiles at a shipyard on the eastern coast of the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia, the Russian government confirmed on Sunday.
The shots damaged a ship and caused debris to fall onto a dock, Russian authorities admitted.
Since launching its counter-offensive against Moscow’s forces this summer, kyiv has increased attacks on the peninsula, targeting the Russian Black Sea Fleet. “On November 4, the Ukrainian army launched 15 cruise missiles at the BE Butoma shipyard [Zaliv] in the city of Kerch,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday, according to state media.
“Air defense systems shot down 13 of the cruise missiles,” the ministry added, specifying that “a ship located in the factory [avait] was damaged after being hit by an enemy cruise missile.
The ministry did not specify the severity of the damage suffered by the ship or the name of the vessel attacked.
Debris from the downed missiles also fell on a nearby quay, but no one was injured, said Moscow-appointed Crimean Governor Sergei Aksionov.
The nearby bridge between Crimea and the Russian mainland, which has previously been targeted by Ukrainian forces, was briefly closed on Saturday for unknown reasons.
“On the evening of November 4, the Ukrainian armed forces successfully carried out strikes against the maritime and port infrastructure of the Zaliv shipyard in the temporarily occupied city of Kerch,” the Ukrainian army announced on Saturday.
Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mikola Oleschuk said Saturday evening that a Kalibr cruise missile carrier was stationed at the shipyard and thanked the pilots for the strikes, which he described as “successful.” “.
In September, Ukraine launched a missile attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol.