Russia reports Kyiv attack on Sevastapol – DW – 09/13/2023

Russia’s Defense Ministry says a Ukrainian cruise missile attack on a shipyard in the city of Sevastopol damaged two ships undergoing repairs.

“The Ukrainian armed forces launched a strike with 10 cruise missiles at the S. Ordzhonikidze ship repair plant,” the Russian ministry said on Telegram.

It added that Ukraine had also “attempted an attack with three unmanned boats at a detachment of ships of the Black Sea fleet” but that these, along with seven cruise missiles, had been destroyed.

Sevastopol, on the Russian-occupied peninsula of Crimea, is the home port of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

The city’s Russia-appointed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said the attack caused a fire and injured 24 people. He posted a photo of himself with the shipyard in flames and smoke billowing overhead. 

The vessels were said to be in dry dock and undergoing repairs. US military bloggers said a Kilo-class submarine and a landing ship had been hit. The Kilo class is a diesel-powered vessel that started production in the 1980s.

Kyiv has targeted Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, throughout Moscow’s Ukraine offensive but the peninsula has recently come under more frequent and intense attacks.

Ukraine has repeatedly said it plans to take back the territory.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the bloc will extend special protections for Ukrainian citizens who fled Russia’s war, and reaffirmed Brussels’ support for Kyiv.

“Our support to Ukraine will endure,” the European Commission president said in her annual policy speech to the European Parliament.

Lawmakers gave a standing ovation as von der Leyen paid tribute to Victoria Amelina, a Ukrainian writer and activist who died of her wounds after a Russian missile attack in eastern Ukraine. She said that the EU would “keep the memory of Victoria — and all other victims — alive.”

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un has told Russian President Vladimir Putin his country is ready to help Moscow protect its security interests in an apparent reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Kim referred to Russia’s “sacred fight” and said Pyongyang would always stand with Moscow, calling North Korea’s relations with Russia “the first priority.”

The two leaders met at a remote Siberian rocket launch facility, the Vostochny Cosmodrome, for a summit that underscored their separate, intensifying confrontations with the West.

Putin welcomed Kim to Russia, saying he was glad to see him. He listed economic cooperation, humanitarian issues and the “situation in the region” as agenda items for the talks.

A senior Ukrainian official says the country has nearly completed repairs of its power systems and is ready to face the winter.

Russian air strikes pounded Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with frequent missile and drone attacks last winter.

“We have installed all the equipment we planned and we are ready for the winter loads,” Volodymyr Kudrytskiy, the head of the state-owned Ukrenergo power grid operator, told national television.

Russia’s campaign caused power cuts and blackouts last winter that left towns and cities in darkness for hours at a time.

While Kudrytskiy said there was a “high risk” of a renewed campaign of attacks, Ukrainian air defenses were now far stronger.

“We know what it looks like [to be attacked] and it will be very difficult for the enemy to surprise us after the 1,200 missiles they fired at the power system last winter,” he said.

Earlier this year, Kudrytskiy said fast repairs and equipment sent by Kyiv’s Western partners had proved particularly helpful last winter, allowing residents and businesses to cope.

rc/msh (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)