This Tuesday, Ukrainian artillery hit areas of the Russian rear far from the war front. Several attacks in Russian border regions caused only damage, according to Moscow authorities. Ukrainian intelligence, for its part, claimed to have sunk a patrol ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Kyiv’s maritime drones hit the Russian patrol vessel Sergei Kotov overnight. The Ukrainian media Ukraínskaya Pravda claims that there was “impact” and “significant damage” to the boat.
Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) claims, for its part, on its Telegram channel that it “destroyed” it. The attack was carried out, according to the GUR, with Ukrainian-made Magura V5 naval drones.
“During the night of March 4-5, the GUR special unit ‘Group 13’ attacked the patrol ship ‘Sergei Kotov’ of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation,” reads a GUR note. It states that the ship “suffered damage to the stern” and on both sides.
During the night, according to local media, both rail and automobile traffic on the Crimean Bridge had to be temporarily stopped. Shortly before, Kerch residents heard explosions over the city, Shot, a Telegram channel, reported.
This new hit to a Russian military ship occurred near the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of ??Azov and separates the Crimean Peninsula from mainland Russia.
Last month Ukraine claimed to have destroyed the Russian amphibious assault ship Caesar Kunikov. In December he managed to hit the Novocherkassk, another Russian amphibian, during an attack against the port of Feodosia, also in Crimea.
Andrii Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, seemed this Tuesday to claim the Russian navy as a legitimate objective, when he wrote on Telegram that “the Russian Black Sea Fleet is a symbol of occupation. It cannot be in Crimea, which is Ukraine’s “.
On the other hand, the governor of the Russian Kursk Oblast, Román Starovoit, denounced artillery attacks against several points in that region that damaged the Glushkovo train station.
As a result, a fire broke out and power lines were damaged, but there were no casualties. “Nine impacts were recorded, there were no injuries,” the official wrote on his Telegram account.
Ukrainian shells also targeted Belgorod Oblast, which is the hardest hit Russian border region since the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had destroyed three drones over its sky. An explosion caused “a fire in an infrastructure” in the Gubkin region, the regional governor, Viacheslav Gladkov, wrote on Telegram, without giving further details.
Local media indicate that it was a drone attack against an oil depot in the city of Gubkin. Kyiv later also claimed responsibility for this attack.
According to Gladkov, Belgorod has been the target of multiple drone and mortar attacks in the last 24 hours that have damaged cars in several locations.
Since the beginning of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, in February 2022, Russian territory has been hit by attacks that in recent weeks have focused on oil depots and refineries.
