Russia has said its Black Sea fleet headquarters in Sevastopol has been hit by a Ukrainian drone strike, injuring five people and prompting officials to cancel planned Navy Day festivities.
The attack was denounced by Mikhail Razvozhayev, the head of the Russian local administration in Sevastopol in Crimea, which was occupied and later annexed in 2014.
“Early this morning, [Ukraine] we decided to spoil our Navy Day,” he posted. “An unidentified object flew into the yard of the fleet headquarters, according to preliminary data, it was a drone. Five people were injured, they are employees of the fleet headquarters, there were no fatalities.
“All celebratory events have been canceled due to security concerns,” he wrote. “I ask you to stay calm and stay at home if possible.”
A spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern command, Natalia Gumenyuk, would not confirm Ukraine’s participation in the strike. But he said Ukraine was conducting operations to liberate Russian-held areas targeting Russian military installations inside Ukraine, not Russia, and that it considered Crimea part of Ukraine.
“The armed forces of Ukraine are carrying out activities to liberate our occupied territories, using the available models of weapons for this purpose. Our targets are exclusively the military installations of the Russian Federation. We do not strike on the territory of the Russian Federation. Crimea is Ukraine,” he said.
Photographs posted on Razvozhayev’s account showed bloodstains and broken glass at the entrance to a military building. A popular Russian military account said the location was the entrance to a cafe, 40 to 50 meters from the inner courtyard where Russian officials said the drone had struck.
No names or ranks were given for those injured in the attack.
The strike is the latest setback for the Black Sea fleet in the five-month war against Ukraine. Ukraine sank the flagship of its Black Sea fleet, the cruiser Moskva, in a missile attack in April. It took days for authorities to confirm the attack, and the families of the enlisted sailors on board took to social media to demand more information about the fate of their loved ones.
It is still unclear how many sailors died in the Moskva attack. Russia has confirmed only one death on board, while dozens of sailors are missing.
The Russian Navy also lost the Saratov Alligator-class landing craft to a fire caused by a Ukrainian missile attack in the port of Berdiansk in March, as well as a landing craft and a number of patrol boats to attack with drones near Serp Island.
The Moskva was reportedly notably absent from Russia’s Navy Day festivities, which were due to include a tour of ships in Sevastopol Bay by the fleet commander, as well as a concert and fireworks, according to Russian state media .
Sevastopol is located in the southern tip of Crimea and is hundreds of kilometers from the front lines, making it more likely that the attack was launched from Russian-controlled territory. A spokesman for the Black Sea Fleet described the drone as “homemade” and said it was carrying a small explosive on board.
Vladimir Putin has traveled to Kronstadt in St Petersburg, the main base of Russia’s Baltic fleet, to mark Navy Day celebrations.