Allegedly Ukrainian forces have launched multiple drone attacks on Russian-held territories, targeting military and dual-use infrastructure in Crimea, Krasnodar Krai, and Belgorod Oblast on 23 July. Among the long-range suicide drone targets were a Russian military unit in occupied Sevastopol and a ferry, used to transfer military equipment and fuel to occupied Crimea.
The Ukrainian defense forces have not commented on these reports yet.
Sevastopol
The city of Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea came under a long-range drone attack last night. Sources of the Russian Telegram channel Astra reported that a military unit in Sevastopol was hit during the assault.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 21 drones over Crimea and the Black Sea. According to emergency services in the occupied region, at least one drone was not shot down and struck the building of military unit 65372 on Monastyrske Highway. The extent of the damage and potential casualties remain unknown.
The Ukrainian Center for Journalistic Investigations previously reported that military unit 65372 is a separate special-purpose radio center of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff. The Ukrainian Telegram channel Operativnyi ZSU, citing open-source intelligence, says that the same unit was attacked on 15 July.
Russian-installed so-called Sevastopol governor Mkhail Razvozhaev claimed that air defense and electronic warfare units repelled a drone attack, with over 15 drones allegedly destroyed over the waters near the northern side of Sevastopol and Cape Fiolent. He also claimed that drone debris fell in residential areas, damaging a truck’s windshield, but claimed no facilities in the city were affected.
Port Kavkaz
Russia’s Krasnodar Krai governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported a drone attack on a ferry in Port Kavkaz. He claimed,
“This morning, drones attacked a ferry vessel in Port Kavkaz. Emergency services are currently working at the scene. There is a localized fire with no threat of spreading. Unfortunately, there are casualties and one fatality among the crew members and port employees.”
The port, located across the Kerch Strait from the occupied Ukrainian city of Kerch, provides vital road and railway ferry infrastructure between Russia and Crimea, heavily utilized by the Russian military. This is especially critical as high load cargoes are prohibited from crossing the Kerch Strait Bridge, which has been damaged in several attacks over previous years and subsequently repaired.
Ukrainian media outlet Liga and local sources report that a railway ferry operating on the Port Kavkaz – Kerch route was allegedly hit. The Ukrainian Telegram channel Krymsky Veter wrote that ambulances and other emergency services were dispatched to the port after the strike.
Previous attack on Port Kavkaz occurred in May, targeting the port’s oil terminal and ferries.
Belgorod Oblast
Russia’s Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed that three men were injured in an attack on Belgorod Oblast. He stated,
“In the village of Shchetinovka, Belgorod district, a Ukrainian drone attacked a moving civilian car. Three men were injured. The victims, with barotraumas and various shrapnel wounds, sought medical assistance at Belgorod City Hospital No. 2 on their own. Doctors provided all necessary medical care. All three refused hospitalization and will continue treatment on an outpatient basis.”
The veracity of Gladkov’s claim is unknown. However, Russian troops often use civilian cars to move around the war zone.
The village is located a kilometer from the border, suggesting that if the report is accurate, an FPV drone, rather than a long-range UAV, might have been used for the attack.
Related:
- Satellite imagery shows damage to Russia’s naval base, patrol boat in Crimea
- Ukraine hits Russia’s Port Kavkaz, targeting oil terminal, ferry crossing
- Russia claims to have repelled naval drone attack in occupied Crimea
- Explosions rock occupied Crimea, as Russia claims ATACMS attack
- Russia claims downing 30 drones from Ukraine in attack, targeting Belgorod Oblast
- UK intel: Russia improved naval infrastructure in Novorossiysk, where it relocated its ships from Sevastopol away from Ukraine’s strikes
- Ukraine strikes command post in Russian territory
