A Ukrainian drone hit a Russian warship at a base in the Black Sea on Friday August 4. In video obtained by AFP, a naval drone is seen hurtling towards the darkened silhouette of a boat before the connection is abruptly cut off.
The operation in which the landing ship was targeted Olenegrorsky Gornyak in Novorossiysk, a port in southwestern Russia, was “successful”, a source in the Ukrainian security services (SBU) told AFP. “The objective was to show that Ukraine could attack any Russian warship in this area,” the source added.
The naval drones “were visually detected and destroyed by fire” from Russian ships, the Defense Ministry said. He announced in another statement that he shot down 13 unmanned aircraft over Crimea, saying there were no casualties or damage.
Russian tanker hit by Ukrainian drone
A Russian tanker was hit by a Ukrainian drone in the Kerch Strait, briefly halting traffic on the strategic bridge linking Crimea with Russia. The tanker suffered a hole in the waterline in the engine room area, “presumably as a result of a naval drone attack”, the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport said on Telegram. “The ship is afloat” and a boom has been placed around the ship and preparations are underway to repair the damage, she added. The vessel tracking website showed the stationary GIS assisted by tugboats in the southern strait.
The attack caused no injuries, according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, which quoted the Novorossiysk relief coordination center. Previously, Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed official in the Zaporizhia region of Ukraine, reported on Telegram about several crew members being injured by shards of glass. The chemical tanker is the subject of American sanctions for having supplied fuel to the Russian forces which came to the aid of the regime of Bashar al-Assad during the war in Syria.
Traffic on the bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow, to Russia was suspended for three hours before resuming early this Saturday morning, August 5, according to the highway information center. The Kerch Bridge is the only work of its kind that connects the peninsula to Russia and is used in particular to transport equipment to the Russian military on the Ukrainian front.
Saudi Arabia sees itself as mediator with meeting on Ukraine
Saudi Arabia is hosting a meeting on Ukraine from this Saturday, August 5, a new attempt to impose its international power, even if expectations remain limited as to the results of this umpteenth peace initiative.
The wealthy Gulf monarchy announced Friday evening the arrival of “security advisers from brotherly countries” to discuss the “Ukrainian crisis”, during this two-day meeting in Jeddah, on the Red Sea, without revealing the names of the States participating in it. This meeting reflects, according to the official press agency SPA, the “availability of the kingdom to exercise a mission of good offices to contribute to finding a solution which will lead to a permanent peace”.
About 30 countries, without Russia, have been invited, according to diplomats informed of the preparations and who requested anonymity. According to them, Ryad is particularly keen to receive Brazil, India, China and South Africa, members of the BRICS (with Russia) who, unlike Westerners, have not taken sides with Ukraine without however support the Russian invasion launched in February 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed a “very important” meeting.
Alexei Navalny sentenced to 19 years in prison
Already imprisoned for nine years in harsh conditions, the main opponent of the Kremlin, Alexei Navalny, was sentenced on Friday to 19 years in prison for “extremism” after a trial behind closed doors. With his usual tenacity, the 47-year-old anti-corruption activist called on the Russians, in a message broadcast by his team, to continue to “resist” against the “gang of traitors, thieves and scoundrels who have taken power”. “(Vladimir) Putin must not achieve his goal. Do not lose the will to resist,” he wrote, saying he considered his sentence the equivalent of a “life sentence”.
“Its duration is measured according to the duration of my life or the duration of this regime”, further indicated Mr. Navalny, who will have to serve his sentence in a “special regime” colony, either in one prisons with the most sinister reputation, usually intended for the most dangerous criminals and lifers.
A spokeswoman for Alexeï Navalny, Kira Yarmysh, told AFP that the sentence took into account the approximately two and a half years in prison already served as well as his ten months of house arrest in 2014-2015.