Ukraine launches a new attack on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea

Headquarters of Russia Black Sea Fleet Russian officials said a drone was targeted in the early hours of Saturday morning, while Ukraine continued to bomb military targets in the annex area. Crimea.

Mikhailo Razvojev, the Russian governor of occupied Crimea, said on his Telegram channel that he was in the building in the coastal city of Sevastopol when “a drone flew to the roof.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t dropped,” he said.

But in a later “clarification” of the incident it was also sent to Telegram, he said unmanned aerial vehicle “It was dropped directly above the fleet headquarters. It fell on the roof and caught fire. The defeat failed. Well done boys.”

Pictures and videos posted online by Ukrainian politicians and media appeared to show the aftermath of the attack, and large plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the fleet headquarters. NBC News has not been able to independently verify it.

The attack came after a A series of explosions hit military warehouses and air bases on the annexed peninsula over the past week, indicating a growing ability for the Ukrainian army or its backers to strike deep behind enemy lines.

Kyiv has not publicly claimed responsibility for the bombings, but a government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose information about the attacks to journalists, confirmed to NBC News this week that pro-Ukrainian saboteurs were behind them. they.

The official declined to say whether the Ukrainian military or special forces were also involved in the attacks.

Meanwhile, Russia’s TASS news agency reported that anti-aircraft systems downed six Ukrainian drones over Nova Kakhova, a small town east of the city. Kherson.

Home to about 300,000 people, Kherson is by far the largest city and the first regional capital in Russian hands. Control of the city also meant that Moscow could provide fresh water to its forces in Crimea.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said a Russian missile hit a residential area in a southern Ukrainian town not far from a nuclear power plant on Saturday, injuring 12 civilians and raising fears of a nuclear accident.

Vitaly Kim, District Governor Mykolaiv The district, on the messaging app Telegram, said four children aged 3 to 17 were among those injured in an attack that destroyed several private homes and a five-storey apartment building in Voznesensk.

The city is located about 19 miles from the Pevdnoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant, which is the second largest in Ukraine.

energyThe Ukrainian energy company, which operates all four of the country’s nuclear power generators, described the attack on Voznesensk as “another act of Russian nuclear terrorism”.

“It is possible that this missile was specifically aimed at the Pvdnokrainsk nuclear power plant, which the Russian army attempted to recover at the beginning of March,” Energoattom said in a statement.

Russia did not immediately respond to the accusation, and NBC News was unable to independently verify the situation on the ground.

Mykolaev’s strikes came after the Russian president Vladimir PotiWe warn his French counterpart, Emmanuel MacronOn Friday, that bombing controlled by Russia Zaporizhia The nuclear power plant, which is located to the east of Mykolaiv, could lead to a large-scale disaster.

A reading of the call from Macron’s office said Putin had agreed to send a mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency to the station.