Published: Less than 10 min ago
The drone that crashed into the Russian navy’s headquarters in Crimea is said to have been home-built.
According to several assessors, the craft itself can be bought by anyone on the internet.
– Enormously embarrassing for the Russians, says the Danish military analyst Anders Puck Nielsen.
Russia occupied Crimea back in 2014. Until recently, the peninsula has been spared from the war, but in recent weeks several attacks have taken place there.
The most notable was the bombing of a military air base on August 9, but only in the last few days several other explosions have occurred in, among other things, ammunition warehouses.
According to the New York Times, the operations have been carried out by an elite Ukrainian force that moves far behind enemy lines.
The governor changed his mind
On Saturday morning, a new attack took place in Crimea. A drone exploded on the roof of the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol, sending black smoke into the sky.
City Governor Mikhail Razvozjayev states on Telegram that no people were injured. He first wrote that the drone could not be shot down, but then changed his mind:
“Correction: The drone was hit directly above the naval headquarters. It fell onto the roof and caught fire. The attack failed. Good work guys”.
It is unclear who is behind the attack, but according to several analysts, it was carried out with a commercial drone that someone strapped explosives to. The same method was used as recently as July 31 when six people were injured in an attack on the same building.
Expert: Embarrassing for the Russians
Danish Jyllands-Posten states that drones of the same type can be bought on the Chinese site Alibaba for under SEK 100,000.
The fact that the air defenses were unable to shoot down such an unsophisticated craft can tear up open wounds in Russian pride, says Anders Puck Nielsen at the Danish Defense Academy to the newspaper:
– Well, it’s hugely embarrassing for the Russians. This drone doesn’t require much engineering, to put it mildly. And it occurs in the middle of the day when everyone can see it with the naked eye.
Immediately after the attack, Governor Razvozhaev was criticized by residents of Sevastopol, writes The Guardian.
“Was the air defense at lunch?”, someone wrote.
Another called for the city to be cordoned off:
“We fought harder against the coronavirus! Back then it was checkpoints everywhere, now anyone can get in!
Zelensky: “On the way back”
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi hinted in his evening speech on Saturday that more attacks are expected on the Crimean Peninsula next week.
– This year is a special year. This year you can literally feel in the air in Crimea that the occupation is temporary and Ukraine is on its way back, he said.
The Black Sea Fleet suffered a significant defeat early in the war when its flagship, the robotic cruiser Moskva, was sunk by Ukrainian robots.
On Friday, the Kremlin announced that the head of the navy, Igor Osipov, was fired.