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Russia claims 3 unmanned boats destroyed trying to attack Crimea bridge

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Russia claims 3 unmanned boats destroyed trying to attack Crimea bridge
Maxar satellite imagery showing a closeup view of Kerch Strait and the new damage to the Crimea Bridge which connects occupied Crimea to Russia on July 17, 2023. (Satellite image by Maxar Technologies)

Russia's Defense Ministry reported in the early hours of Sept. 2 that its forces had destroyed three unmanned boats being used in an attempt to target the Crimea bridge. The ministry accused Ukraine of the attack.

The bridge, linking the peninsula to Russia's mainland, was completed in 2018, four years after Russia occupied and annexed the peninsula from Ukraine. It has come under numerous attacks in the 18-month-old full-scale invasion.

Ukraine didn't confirm responsibility for the attack.

The British Defense Ministry of Defense said in its Sept. 1 war intelligence update that “Russia is employing a range of passive defenses such as smoke generators and underwater barriers, alongside active defense measures such as air defense systems" around the Black Sea.

Over the past few weeks, there has been a notable uptick in attacks targeting Russian-occupied Crimea and the naval installations in its vicinity. Ukraine has bolstered its counteroffensive efforts in the southeast region, leading to an intensified assault.

These strikes have primarily concentrated on disrupting Russian logistics routes to and from Crimea. Additionally, they have taken aim at ammunition depots associated with Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which is stationed in the occupied port city of Sevastopol.

Increased attacks on Crimea disrupt Russian logistics, attempt to derail its southern defenses
Since mid-July, drones and missiles have regularly targeted Russian military depots and infrastructure in occupied Crimea. Russian proxies reported that the Chonhar Bridge, serving as Russia’s fastest rail route from occupied Crimea to the southern front line, was allegedly hit multiple times on Au…
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Olena Goncharova

Head of North America desk

Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

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