New Delhi: At least 12 people were injured after a Ukrainian drone attack led to an explosion of an ammunition depot in Moscow-annexed Crimea, Russian Health Ministry said as reported by news agency Reuters. According to Russian-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov, the aerial attack caused the ammunition depot to explode, following which the authorities ordered evacuation within 5km radius and briefly halted the road traffic on the bridge linking the peninsula to Russia. However, the traffic that was disrupted for a while, resumed operations later, the official said, reported Reuters.
According to the report, Ukraine said its army had destroyed an oil depot and warehouses of the Russian army in what it called the “temporarily occupied” district of Oktiabrske in central Crimea.
Speaking on the drone attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the bridge was the most “legitimate target” because that was the military supply route for Russia, Reuters reported.
“This is the route used to feed the war with ammunition and this is being done on a daily basis,” he said.
It is to be noted that the aerial attack came just five days after the only bridge linking annexed Crimea to Russia was hit, killing two people. Crimea, that was annexed by Moscow in 2014, has been targeted throughout the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. However, the attacks have increased in recent weeks, after Kyiv launched a counteroffensive to retake land lost to Moscow, and stated that it also aims to reclaim Crimea.
Speaking remotely to the Aspen Security Forum earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia’s Crimea bridge must be “neutralised”, reported AFP.
Asked if Kyiv aims to return Crimea in its counteroffensive, Zelensky said, “The goal is to return all of Crimea, because it is our sovereign state, and our sovereign territory is an integral part of our state.”