The Russian military said Saturday that it had foiled another attack on a critical bridge connecting the occupied Crimean Peninsula to Russia, which Kyiv has vowed to continue targeting until it becomes unusable.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, three Ukrainian ”semi-submersible unmanned boats“ that were targeting the Kerch Strait Bridge were destroyed in the Black Sea overnight. The first maritime drone was detected shortly before midnight, and the other two were launched about 10 minutes apart just after 2 a.m. local time, as stated by the ministry.
These claims cannot be independently verified, and Ukraine’s military did not explicitly comment on whether its drones had targeted the bridge.
However, Ukrainian officials have expressed that the destruction of the crucial 12-mile-long bridge is a strategic priority, and Kyiv’s forces have repeatedly attacked it.
Simultaneously, Ukraine has escalated its drone attacks in Russia in recent weeks. A series of exploding drones were launched in six regions of Russia this past week, causing damage to four military cargo planes at an airfield. This appears to be an indication that Ukraine is increasingly capable of striking deep inside Moscow’s territory.
American officials have stated that the drone attacks in Russia aim to demonstrate to the Ukrainian public that Kyiv can still retaliate, even as its counteroffensive to reclaim Russian-occupied territory progresses slowly. Another objective, as emphasized by top Ukrainian officials, is to bring the war closer to the people of Russia.
2023-09-02 05:21:44
Original from www.nytimes.com
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