Ukraine said on Thursday it attacked two Russian patrol ships and destroyed a sophisticated air defence system in the west of occupied Crimea, ramping up its strikes to challenge Moscow's dominance in the Black Sea region.
The attacks come a day after Kyiv said it seriously damaged a Russian submarine and landing ship undergoing repairs in a missile strike on a shipyard in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, home to the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed an attack on the Sergei Kotov in a morning statement, but said the assault involving five sea drones was repelled. It made no mention of damage.The southwestern location of the attack would indicate Ukraine's ability to strike Russian targets far from its coast.
Ukraine's embattled navy has used sea drones to strike back, hitting the Olenegorsky Gornyak landing ship near Russia's naval base at Novorossiysk early last month and a Russian fuel tanker.Senior presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Ukraine was focused on three key tasks aimed at the de-occupation of the peninsula, which lies far behind the battlelines of southern Ukraine.
Russia regards the peninsula as strategically important and uses its Black Sea Fleet to project power.
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