Heavy Ukrainian rockets attack on Russian territory causes fires and the destruction of ships in Crimea

The Russian Defense Ministry said that a shipyard in the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula caught fire on Wednesday and two ships were damaged after Ukraine fired ten missiles and carried out three speedboat attacks on the port.

The Russian Defense Ministry added in a statement on Telegram that Russian defense systems shot down seven missiles and destroyed the three speedboat patrol vessels.

The Ministry of Defense said, “Two ships that were being repaired were damaged as a result of the enemy targeting them with cruise missiles”.

Mikhail Razvozaev, the Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea and one of the largest Black Sea ports, said via Telegram that at least 24 people were wounded in the attack.

Razvozaev added, “All emergency services are working at the site, and there is no danger to civilian targets in the city”.

The mission of the strategic Sevastopol basin on the peninsula, which Russia annexed and seized from Ukraine in 2014, is to build and repair ships and submarines belonging to its fleet in the Black Sea.

The fleet launched several attacks on Ukraine.

Razvozaev posted a nighttime photo of flames sweeping through what appeared to be infrastructure in the port.

Russian channels on Telegram posted videos and more photos of massive flames at a facility adjacent to the water.

Ukraine never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine, but has been saying in recent months that the destruction of Russian military infrastructure helps Kiev’s counterattack.

In addition, the Ukrainian Air Force said via Telegram that air defense systems destroyed 32 out of 44 Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia launched into Ukraine on Wednesday.

“The main target of the attack was the southern parts of the Odessa region, the region’s port infrastructure,” the Ukrainian Air Force added.