Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the Sevastopol military base on Saturday morning and residents of the city were told to stay indoors immediately after the strike, the latest in a series of high-profile attacks on sensitive targets there and inside Russia. The governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said there were no casualties and initially claimed the drone flew onto the airbase’s roof after troops stationed there failed to shoot it down. He later said that the soldiers were able to target the drone and that it fell on the roof of the air base after being hit. “Clarification: the drone was shot down… right over the fleet headquarters. It fell on the roof and caught fire. The attack failed. Well done guys,” he wrote. Previous attacks in Crimea, including one earlier this month on the Saky airbase that sent fireballs into the sky and destroyed nine or more warplanes, have prompted many residents to flee the peninsula. Concerned locals responded to Razvozhaev by asking how a drone slipped through air defenses that at the start of the war were considered among the most advanced in the world. “Was our air defense system on a lunch break?” asked one. “When will you finally close the city?” asked another, saying the attacks were the work of pro-Philukran rebels on the peninsula. “We fought harder against the coronavirus! Back then there were checks everywhere, now everyone and everyone comes in!!!!” Another wondered if more attacks were coming. Wednesday 24 August is Ukraine’s independence day and will also mark six months since the Russian invasion. Many in the country worry that Moscow may be preparing some kind of major offensive that day, but residents in Crimea are also apparently worried that Ukraine wants to signal its successful resistance. “They have Independence Day on the 24th, are they planning something? And [drone] it’s just a distraction from the main thing.” The attacks came a day after the US announced a $775 million arms package for Ukraine, including drones, armored vehicles and artillery. Subscribe to This is Europe The most pivotal stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to the economy to the environment Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Government officials have repeatedly said that while Western weapons have enabled the country to save Kyiv and keep Russia at bay in other areas, they are still woefully short of the weapons needed to decisively defeat Russia. The promised supplies are also slowly arriving. Last week, a senior source estimated that only 10% of the weapons promised by the West had reached Ukraine. And on Saturday presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak warned that Moscow was trying to create a “reputational crisis” for Ukraine that would slow the flow of Western arms. Ukrainian troops are being pounded by guns in the south and east, where Russian forces are still slowly advancing through a desolate stretch of cities that were destroyed before they were captured. On Saturday they stepped up fighting to take Bakhmut, one of the last major cities in the Donetsk region still held by Ukrainian forces, which would open the way for Russia to advance on two other strategic targets, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Russia last month seized the entire region of Luhansk, which together with Donetsk forms the industrial heart of Donbass. Russian-backed separatists have declared a pair of independent republics there. Following Russia’s failure to capture Kyiv and setbacks in parts of the south, including the city of Kherson, seizing territory here has become a key military objective for Moscow. Shelling in the Mykolayiv region also seriously injured four children and five adults, with one girl losing an eye, governor Vitaly Kim said. The shells landed in the city of Voznesensk, just 30 kilometers from the country’s second largest nuclear power plant. There is growing global concern over Russia’s seizure of the nearby Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest, and suspicions that Russian authorities could try to disconnect it from the Ukrainian grid, raising the risk of a nuclear accident. Additional references: Artem Mazhulin
