Crimea

Ukraine's air and sea drone attacks on Russian military targets in Crimea over the course of the war have damaged or destroyed several ships

Belousov warned Austin of the dangers of continued US arms supplies to Ukraine in the 28-month-old war

Russia, which began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, seized Crimea in 2014

A decade ago, President Vladimir Putin seized Crimea from Ukraine, a bold land grab that set the stage for Russia to invade its neighbor in 2022. The quick and bloodless seizure of the diamond-shaped peninsula, home to Russia's Black Sea fleet and a popular vacation site, touched off a wave of patriotism and sent Putin's popularity soaring. Crimea is ours! became a popular slogan in Russia. Now that Putin has been anointed to another six-year term as president, he is determined to extend his gains in Ukraine amid Russia's battlefield successes and waning Western support for Kyiv. Putin has been vague about his goals in Ukraine as the fighting grinds into a third year at the expense of many lives on both sides, but some of his top lieutenants still talk of capturing Kyiv and cutting Ukraine's access to the Black Sea. The largest conflict in Europe since World War II has sent tensions between Moscow and the West soaring to levels rarely seen during even the chilliest moments of the C

A Russian naval ship in Crimea was damaged in an airstrike by Ukrainian forces, Russia's Defence Ministry said Tuesday. The landing ship Novocherkassk was hit at a base in the city of Feodosia by plane-launched guided missiles, the ministry said. The ministry said two Ukrainian fighter jets were destroyed by anti-aircraft fire during the attack. There was no immediate report of how badly the ship was damaged, but videos circulating on Ukrainian channels showed an extensive fire in the port area.

The Russian military said a Ukrainian missile strike on a shipyard in annexed Crimea had damaged a Russian ship. The Russian Defence Ministry said late Saturday that Ukrainian forces fired 15 cruise missiles at the Zaliv shipyard in Kerch, a city in the east of the Crimean Peninsula. Air defences shot down 13 missiles but others hit the shipyard and damaged a vessel, a statement from the ministry said. The ministry didn't give details about the ship or the extent of the damage. The Ukrainian air force commander, Mykola Oleshchuk, said in a statement that at the time of the attack carried out by Ukrainian tactical aviation, one of the most modern ships of Russia's Black Sea fleet was at the shipyard carrier of the Kalibr cruise missiles. He didn't say directly, however, that this particular ship was damaged by the strike. The Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, has been a frequent target since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale

The Sevastopol Shipyard in Russian-annexed Crimea was on fire Wednesday after a Ukrainian attack, and 24 people were injured, local Russian-installed official reported. Mikhail Razvozhayev, Moscow-appointed governor of the port city of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula, said on Telegram on Wednesday that the fire was sparked by a missile attack. The official posted a photo of the fire with smoke billowing over it. The Sevastopol Shipyard is of strategic importance to Russia as vessels in its Black Sea fleet are being repaired there.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk's refusal to allow Ukraine to use Starlink internet services to launch a surprise attack on Russian forces in Crimea last September has raised questions as to whether the US military needs to be more explicit in future contracts that services or products it purchases could be used in war, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said on Monday. Excerpts of a new biography of Musk published by The Washington Post last week revealed that the Ukrainians in September 2022 had asked for the Starlink support to attack Russian naval vessels based at the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Musk had refused due to concerns that Russia would launch a nuclear attack in response. Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and claims it as its territory. Musk was not on a military contract when he refused the Crimea request; he'd been providing terminals to Ukraine for free in response to Russia's February 2022 invasion. However, in the months since, the US military has funded and ...

Russia's Defence Ministry said early Saturday that its forces destroyed three Ukrainian naval drones being used in an attempt to attack a key bridge linking Russia to Moscow-annexed Crimea, forcing its temporary closure for a third time in less than a year. One naval drone was destroyed late Friday and two others early Saturday morning, according to Russia's Defence Ministry. There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials. A key supply route for Kremlin forces in the war with Ukraine, the Kerch bridge has come under repeated attack since Russia launched its full-scale invasion. An explosion in October, which Russian authorities said was caused by a truck bomb, left three people dead. A further attack on the bridge in July, killing a couple and seriously wounding their daughter, left a span of the roadway hanging perilously. The bridge connecting Crimea and Russia carries heavy significance for Moscow, both logistically and psychologically, as a key artery for military and

In an update issued later on Saturday, Aksyonov said that another Ukrainian missile had been shot down in the area. Photos and videos circulating on social media platforms showed white smoke

Russia thwarted an attack by 20 Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow-annexed Crimea overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday. Fourteen drones were shot down by Russian air defenses and a further six were jammed electronically, the ministry said in a Telegram post. No casualties or damage were reported. The overnight attacks followed three consecutive days of drone attacks on the Russian capital, Moscow. Firing drones at Russia, after more than 17 months of war has little apparent military value for Ukraine, but the strategy has served to unsettle Russians and bring home to them the conflict's consequences. Drone attacks have increased in recent weeks both on Moscow and on Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 a move that most of the world considered illegal. Kyiv officials neither confirmed nor denied Ukraine's possible involvement in the attempted attacks. Elsewhere, Russia claimed Saturday it had regained control of the village of Urozhaine in Ukraine's ..

Ukrainian drones hit a Russian tanker in the Black Sea near Crimea, according to Russian officials. They said that the vessel's engine room sustained damage in the strike late Friday night in the Kerch Strait. The Sig tanker...suffered a hole in the engine room near the waterline on the starboard side, presumably as a result of a sea drone attack, Russia's Federal Agency for Marine and River Transport wrote on Telegram, adding that there were no casualties among the 11 crew members. Vladimir Rogov, a Kremlin-installed official in Ukraine's partially occupied southern Zaporizhzhia region, said several members of the ship's crew were wounded because of broken glass. An official with Ukraine's Security Service confirmed to The Associated Press that the service was behind the attack on the tanker, which was transporting fuel for Russian forces. A sea drone, filled with 450 kilograms (992 pounds) of TNT, was used for the attack, added the official who spoke on condition of anonymity ..

Russia accused Ukraine early Friday of attacking its Black Sea navy base in the port of Novorossiysk with sea drones. Novorossiysk is just across the water from Crimea, where Russia's Ministry of Defense said it thwarted another attack by Ukraine overnight, taking down 13 drones. Russia's Ministry of Defence said Russian ships patrolling the perimeter of the naval base destroyed two Ukrainian sea drones. Footage published on Russian social media channels appeared to show a ship firing into the sea and a burning object exploding. Ukrainian agencies carried footage from social media channels they suggested showed a Russian ship listing to one side after the attack. The Associated Press could not verify the videos. Ukrainian officials have not commented on the attack, in keeping with the country's security policy. Minutes after confirming the attack on the Black Sea port, Russia's Ministry of Defence said it had also repelled another attack by Ukraine on Moscow-annexed Crimea. The ..

Ukraine's security service claimed responsibility for the first time on Wednesday for an explosion that badly damaged the Kerch Bridge linking the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula with Russia last October. The explosion, which Russian authorities said was caused by a truck bomb, left three people dead. Speaking on Ukrainian national television on Wednesday, Ukrainian Security Service head Vasyl Malyuk said his agency was behind the attack. There were many different operations, special operations. We'll be able to speak about some of them publicly and out loud after the victory, we will not talk at all about others, Malyuk said. It is one of our actions, namely the destruction of the Crimean bridge on October 8 last year. A further attack on the bridge last week, killing a couple and seriously wounding their daughter, left a span of the roadway hanging perilously. The damage initially appeared to be less severe than what was caused by the assault in October, but it highlighted th

"Tonight another terrorist attack took place against the bridge," Putin said in a meeting with officials Monday

The grain deal was hailed as preventing a global food emergency when it was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last year, halting a de facto blockade of Ukrainian ports by Russia

Traffic on the key bridge connecting Crimea to Russia's mainland has been halted amid reports of explosions. The governor of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, announced the closure early Monday but did not specify the reason. News reports said local residents heard explosions before dawn, but there was no confirmation. The 19-kilometre bridge that was opened in 2018 is the main land connection between Russia and the Crimean peninsula.

Hearings open Tuesday at the United Nations' highest court in a case brought by Ukraine against Russia linked to Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea and arming of rebels in eastern Ukraine in the years before Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Kyiv wants the International Court of Justice to order Moscow to pay reparations for attacks in the regions, including for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that was shot down by Russia-backed rebels on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew. Four days of hearings in the court's ornate, wood-paneled Great Hall of Justice are opening against a backdrop of Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II raging on in Ukraine. Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam and hydroelectric power station in a part of in a part of the country Moscow controls, threatening a massive flood. Lawyers for Kyiv will present legal arguments to support their case Tuesday, followed by Russia on Thursday.

As air raid sirens wailed across most of Ukraine overnight for several hours, numerous explosions were reported in Crimea on Sunday, according to Al Jazeera