Russian officials have declared an air raid alert in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol in anticipation of further attacks from Ukraine.
Sirens went off in the city early on Wednesday. Traffic on the Crimean bridge, linking the peninsula to Russia, as well as sea transport, were suspended, Al-Jazeera reported.
The alert comes amid a string of Ukrainian attacks in recent weeks in and around Crimea, which was seized and annexed by Moscow in 2014. Kyiv’s forces have struck a Russian air base on the peninsula and the Black Sea Fleet command post in Sevastopol, as Ukraine seeks to weaken Russia’s control over the water.
Moscow on Tuesday accused Ukraine of the attempted assassination of pro-Russian politician Oleg Tsaryov in Yalta. The Crimean Bridge was attacked in July.
At the same time, amid disappointing results from Kyiv’s much-vaunted counteroffensive, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seeking to rouse his country ahead of a winter campaign anticipated to be harsh.
Ukraine hopes that weakening Russian forces on the Black Sea will deliver an ultimate victory in the war. The “illusion” of Russia’s domination of Crimea and the Black Sea had been shattered, Zelenskyy told a meeting of the Crimea Platform on October 24.
The attacks have highlighted Kyiv’s growing capabilities, which include naval drones. Meanwhile, Moscow continues bombarding Ukraine from afar with long-range missiles and assault drones.
Last week, the Russian defence ministry said “a set of mine and anti-sabotage measures” in Sevastopol Bay had intercepted three unmanned Ukrainian boats.
Ukraine said on Wednesday that Russia had shelled more than 100 settlements over the last 24 hours; the highest number of attacks on any single day so far in 2023.
MNA/PR