Ukrainian Drone Boats Hit Two Russian Patrol Vessels at Kerch Strait
Ukraine's drone forces have hit and damaged two guard ships at the Kerch Strait Bridge, according to officials in Kyiv. The Ukrainian Navy identified the target vessels as the FSB patrol boat Sobol and "anti-sabotage" boat Grachonok, and said that they had been heavily damaged.
"As a result of the strike, the enemy suffered irrecoverable and sanitary losses," the service claimed in a statement.
The bridge is a symbol of Russian occupation and a key artery for supplies to Russian troops in Crimea. Ukraine has targeted it repeatedly, with real but limited success. The guard boats are one element of a network of protections that defend the road and rail spans from Ukraine's surface drone boats; damaging or disabling them would leave the bridge itself more susceptible to a later strike.
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Ukrainian drone forces have been hammering the region for weeks, primarily targeting Russian oil infrastructure at the port of Tuapse. Separate strikes hit Russian landing ships at Sevastopol last week and the Russian shadow fleet tanker Marquise on Tuesday. The preparatory work of neutralizing air defenses and radars around the Crimean peninsula has been under way for some time. "Systemic Ukrainian work to destroy Russian air defense in Crimea is paying off," commented former Ukrainian interior minister Anton Gerashchenko in a social media post.
Also on Thursday, a long-range Ukrainian drone strike hit a petroleum tank farm at Perm, east of Moscow. It was the second attack at Perm in two days, and it left two large fuel tanks burning. The station is home to pumping equipment for Russia's oil pipeline network.ddssdsd
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