A Ukrainian drone strike on an oil storage facility in the Crimean port of Sevastopol caused a massive fire, according to a Russian official cited by the Associated Press on Saturday. This comes amid an escalation in attacks against Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, and as the ever-imminent Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south and east of the country is expected to fail.
Despite earlier reporting of as many as four drones being involved in the strike, Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, said experts have since examined the site and it is clear that “only one drone was able to reach the oil reservoir,” though another UAV was downed.
The blaze at the city’s harbor was assigned the highest ranking in terms of how difficult the flames would be to extinguish, but reportedly the fire has now been contained. On his Telegram channel, Razvozhaev shared videos and photos of the attack’s aftermath. He explained that nobody was injured in the fire, oil supplies in Sevastopol would not be hindered, and four oil tanks had burned down.
However, a Ukrainian military intelligence official has claimed that over 10 oil tanks had been destroyed, which carried roughly 40,000 tons of fuel for use by the Russian Black Sea fleet. Ukraine has not taken official responsibility for the attack. Kiev rarely admits its role in operations on the peninsula, with officials instead opting to strongly hint at their responsibility to the press or social media.
Such is the case with this latest drone strike. Andriy Yusov, the aforementioned Ukrainian military intelligence official, said the attack was “God’s punishment” for Russian air raids during the previous day in the city of Uman. At least 23 people, including six children, were killed in the Russian missile strikes, according to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.
“This punishment will be long-lasting. In the near future, it is better for all residents of temporarily occupied Crimea not to be near military facilities and facilities that provide for the aggressor’s army,” Yusov was quoted as saying in a report by RBC Ukraine.
Sevastopol has seen regular attempted drone strikes, particularly in recent weeks. On Monday, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that its forces had repelled Ukrainian naval drones seeking to target the Black Sea fleet. According to the AP, one of the unmanned boats was destroyed while another blew up, causing some shattered windows in many apartment buildings in the surrounding areas. They reportedly resulted in no further damage.
Last month, a Ukrainian military spokeswoman implied Kiev carried out a drone attack in northern Crimea, which destroyed a shipment of Russian cruise missiles being transported by rail. Russian authorities have disputed that version of events, however, and maintained that the drone attack targeted civilian residential areas. Ukrainian military intelligence released a vague statement after the attack, claiming such strikes advance “the process of Russia’s demilitarization, and prepares the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea for de-occupation.”
Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014, following a US-backed coup in Kiev. Polling conducted since then has indicated overwhelming support among Crimeans for rejoining the Russian Federation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that Kiev will seek to reconquer the peninsula during its upcoming counteroffensive and has previously remarked that peace talks cannot happen unless all Ukrainian territory lost to Russia is recaptured, including the Black Sea peninsula.
There is a split in the Biden administration on what to do regarding Kiev’s goal of retaking Crimea. Even Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who previously called for Russia’s “strategic defeat,” has suggested attacking Crimea would cross a “red line” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, likely provoking a severe reaction.
On the other hand, the ultra-hawkish Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland has said “Russia has turned Crimea into a massive military installation … Those are legitimate targets, Ukraine is hitting them, and we are supporting that.” She went on to say Ukraine will not be “safe unless Crimea is at a minimum – at a minimum – demilitarized.”
Pentagon documents allegedly leaked by National Guard airman Jack Teixeira exposed that the US has little faith in Kiev’s ability to regain territory it has lost to Russia during the ostensibly upcoming spring counteroffensive.
Two administration officials told Politico this week that it is highly unlikely that Ukrainian forces will have any luck in severing the land bridge to Crimea in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
Connor Freeman is the assistant editor and a writer at the Libertarian Institute, primarily covering foreign policy. He is a co-host on the Conflicts of Interest podcast. His writing has been featured in media outlets such as Antiwar.com, Counterpunch, and the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. He has also appeared on Liberty Weekly, Around the Empire, and Parallax Views. You can follow him on Twitter @FreemansMind96.
Fuel, ammo, communications, power, transportation pretty much fair game in a war, preschools , shopping malls and apartment buildings pretty much not.
Agreed. So why does Ukraine keep setting up firing positions inside schools and hi-rises?
It is but a pin prick.
Same as the inconsequential pin pircks that led to the US defeat in Vietnam and Afghanistan.
That’s crazy talk. Vietnam and Afghanistan weren’t home to the US’ only warm water port. If they were, they’d both be large parking lots right now. Your attempted analogy is a joke.
Vietnam and Afghanistan where total defeats for the US as for Vietnam the US Military used everything they had except nukes , and the reason they did not use nukes is the fact the rest of the world would have turned against the US for EVER , Americans might be insane but they arn`t totally insane .
Clean, clear and concise JJ.
They both fed the MIC, their main purpose. But to think the US would conduct war like they did in Vietnam and Afghanistan if they were in Russia’s position regarding Crimea is nonsensical. They could have carpet bombed both into one massive crater without using a single boot on the ground. And they would have if keeping their only warm water port had depended on it.
In Vietnam US lost several thousands of expensive aircrafts. Probably, Afghanistan did cost even more.
What concerns the material damage, yes, but PR was great. Maybe the sponsors will appreciate it and give to Zelensky some money.
The PR for Russian media, yes. “Look the Ukrainians are now attacking inside our territory and our fuel depot.”
I don’t think know how much fuel was lost; how much the Russian navy would need to engage Odessa or AFU forces attempting to invade Russian held Zaporizhzhia. But it looked pretty serious to me.
I suppose that a damage assessment hinges on the availability of alternative fuel sources. I don’t think Turkey will allow Russia to bring more fuel through the Bosporus Strait. But I have noted that there are additional fuel storage facilities to the east of Sevastopol. There may also be possibilities to ferry fuel.
I’m not buying the claim that this was revenge for Uman. Now that Zelensky has affirmed that the counteroffensive will begin in May, this could be an attempt to force Russia to move its fleet. It could also be an attempt to deprive the ships at Sevastopol of fuel that would be needed to respond to whatever NATO has planned next, and I wonder if Russia should have fought harder to keep Snake Island.
I think you’re right about Ukraine’s objective but a few tanks of oil won’t stop the show… 1000 sq. ft. of damage isn’t all that much damage despite all the smoke it kicked up.
It may be a coincidence, but Russia may have replied to this incident by attacking a train at Kramatorsk. Ukraine is thought to have lost 200 tons of artillery shells.
Most drone attacks against Crimea come from the grain corridor. Sometimes they come from inside Crimea by Ukrainian terrorist groups located inside Russian territory. Almost all Ukrainian drone are destroyed before they reach the targets but sometimes they manage to penetrate. This time 4 tanks with fuel were burned. Not a great damage but still unpleasant. The best what Russia can do is to close the grain corridor and intensify anti-terrorist measures inside Crimean peninsular. Also it is necessary to deploy more people for the protection from the lower flying drones, more of the detecting equipment and more firing points.
Thanks for the info. I couldn’t tell how bad the fire was from the descriptions I found in the press.
Russia has played enough games with the west over the grain corridor. Poland has banned the import of Ukraine grain. The promise to lift sanctions on Russian grain has not been delivered. And, as you say, the corridor is being used to conceal covert operations that target the Russian fleet.
There are other ways to get grain to countries that depend on imports to feed their people. Moreover, the import bans were imposed because Ukraine was dumping it at prices so low it was hurting local farmers in Poland and Hungary.
This suggests that Ukraine’s grain wasn’t going to poor countries anyway.
After Ukrainian wheat was dumped in Poland, the farmers started to protest. Not only in Poland. Hungarian and other farmers also were discontent. Besides, as they say, Ukrainian wheat was of a low quality. It forced the governments in East Europe to take some measures against Ukrainian wheat.
The effective and persistent Ukrainian resistance to Putin’s unprovoked aggression is inspiring to freedom loving people everywhere.
Fourteen months since the invasion and Russian still can’t even encircle the Ukrainian garrison at Bakhmut. To anyone who understood the history of centuries of Russian aggression and oppression against Ukraine it was obvious that Putin’s invasion was doomed to fail. But like so many warmongers before him Putin can’t understand asymmetric wars of national resistance so he is doomed to follow in the footsteps of warmongers like Nixon, Bush and Brezhnev. Putin is fighting and losing the war that Lenin was smart enough to avoid.
Truth is an early casualty in any war and I don’t gave face value to the claims of Ukraine or Russia regarding the facts on the ground. I look at the map and the calendar. Fourteen months of resistance shows which side Ukrainian hearts and minds chose.
Both sides are committing war crimes. But the overwhelming evidence shows that the bulk of the war crimes are being committed by the Russian forces. Ukraine claimed it struck a shipment of cruise missiles last week. I don’t know if that is true. But Russia claimed Ukraine targeted civilian sites instead. But Russia has shown no pictures of these alleged Ukrainian atrocities while independent journalists are documenting the Russian attacks on civilians.
China does not want Russia to lose badly. But China values international peace and cannot afford an endless war if Putin refuses to accept reality. For China’s peace initiative to work, China needs to pressure Russia to face the reality that the war is lost and the Russians need to withdraw.
As for Crimea, if the Crimean people want to be part of Russia, then they should have their way. Zelinskyy is a Ukraine First guy who is not afraid to bite the hands that are feeding Ukraine’s resistance by standing up to Biden and NATO.. But I think if China can guarantee a Russian withdrawal from the occupied parts of Donbas, Kherson and and Zaporizhzhia, the Ukrainians are likely to accept a cease fire in Crimea with a referendum. But the Tatars who Stalin evicted in 1944 are the indigenous people of Crimea who were persecuted by Ukrainians and Russians alike. . The Tatars should be heard from in any negotiation about Crimea’s ultimate status.
The big question is whether China will lean on Russia to deliver on point one of China’s peace plan calling for ” sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries.”
I look at the map and the calendar.
I look at the ever growing mountain of dead Nazis… Real 🇺🇸❤️🇷🇺!
Unfortunately, the majority of the killed Ukrainian soldiers are not Nazis. First they were fooled by promises of membership in EU and good relations with Russia. Once, sponsored by NATO, neo-Nazi regime was installed, they were terrorized in submission. How many thousands were killed in the process, no one knows. Then, with the help of local Nazis and foreign mercenaries, they were corralled into the military formations and sent to the front. Besides the propaganda worked well and most people are completely disorientated.
Quite right Mikhail, the important aspect of the Russian deNazification program is that the killing of innocents will be staunched.
Hopefully, we can deNazify ourselves in the US without as much bloodshed and turmoil.
☮️
Yes, like the U.S. respects the sovereignty of all nations? Or only those nations that can’t steal resources from?
Pretty silly analysis. You can speculate all you like, but you keep leaving out the part where the Russians explain the reasons they are carrying out this maneuver. You seem not to have grasped that Putin means what he says. Maybe what confuses you is with the notion that Putin is for sale in a similar vein to the manner in which US politicians put themselves up for sale.
The Russians have no exit which involves giving up on the people who voted to join Russia, because to do so would be dishonorable. As for NATO, well, that horse left the barn. The only way that problem can be solved is if NATO is driven out of Ukraine.
So you see, there is no pie in the sky compromise.
I have no idea whether Putin is for sale or not. But I know he is defeated. Russia can’t occupy Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson without defeating the Ukrainian army and the Ukrainian resistance. But Russia has even failed to defeat the Ukrainian army. Russia has no hope of defeating the spirit of Ukrainian resistance. Eventually the Russians will have to withdraw from all of Ukraine except perhaps Crimea. China understands this. Ever wonder why China has still not recognized Russia’s alleged “annexation” of Crimea? Point one of China’s peace plan is about guaranteeing territorial integrity to all nations big and small. The war is becoming bad for China’s long term interests. China is loathe to intervene in Russian internal affairs. But the Kremlin needs a leadership that recognizes that this is a war that Russia can’t win.
Your first two sentences are grotesque distortions. What can I say? There are two views of the war, one from the western media and the other from the east.
Time will tell which one turned out to be correct. Your second sentence has been drummed out by the US government and media puppets for the better part of a year. The problem with this version is that it assumes western politicians know what is on the minds of the people in Russia who are running the operation. But the truth is that the west will find out what Russia intends to do when Russia does it – and not before.
So you can quote this source and that source and this and that analyst, but the only people who count when we are discussing Russia’s tactics in Ukraine are the Russians who are running the Russian operation.
It’s profoundly simple, but you appear to be completely immune.
I agree it is profoundly simple. I can read a calendar and a map. In an asymmetric war if there is still any doubt over who has won after fourteen months, it means the invader has lost. It’s that old hearts and minds thing. The Chinese understand H&M. The invader never does. But in the end the invader leaves in defeat and lame excuses for failure. US in Vietnam and Afghanistan. USSR in Afghanistan. France in Algeria and Vietnam. Portugal in Africa. Russia in Ukraine. It is an old story I have seen repeated many times. So have the Chinese.
Ever wonder why the Chinese haven’t recognized any of Putin’s annexations?
“Russian Official: Ukrainian Drone Attack Sets Crimean Fuel Depot Ablaze -The strike comes amid a recent uptick in attacks on Crimea which even the hawkish Secretary of State Antony Blinken has acknowledged would cross Moscow’s “red line” and provoke a severe reaction.”
Crimea is part of Russia and a major naval base. Keep poking the Bear and soon his claws will come out and end the threat.
“On the other hand, the ultra-hawkish Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland has said “Russia has turned Crimea into a massive military installation … Those are legitimate targets, Ukraine is hitting them, and we are supporting that.” She went on to say Ukraine will not be “safe unless Crimea is at a minimum – at a minimum – demilitarized.””
So who appointed Victoria Nuland pope as the saying goes. She is supposed to be a diplomat from the State Department and not the Department of Defense. Her military training and acumen is quite lacking!
The Sevastopol Naval Base (Russian: Севастопольская военно-морская база) has been part of the Russian military since before America was a country. Construction started in 1778 and it was completed in 1783 when the first eleven ships of the Imperial Russian Navy arrived in the port.
By providing targeting data and intelligence America is walking a fine line on the verge of all out war. So far the Special Military Operation in Ukraine has been a very limited war. If an unlimited war breaks out Kiev will cease to exist along with other belligerent forces and fleets.
This incident reinforced my assumption that Biden wants to put the hurt on Russia’s navy. If my theory is correct, the attempt at regime change in Syria was also an attempt to hurt Russia’s navy, which is probably why Russia was willing to send troops there. Carrying on with that theory, the next attempt to hurt their navy will occur in Sudan in an effort to stop Russia from establishing a port on the Red Sea.
I think Zelensky realizes that Ukraine is not capable of reclaiming Crimea. There IS an opportunity to do some serious damage to Russia’s navy… as long as Russia can be manipulated into moving its ships to the Sea of Azov. But that’s probably not going to go the way his handlers think it will, and failure would likely end Ukraine’s ability to continue the war. At least there’s that.
If you listen to the Defense briefing with Sec. Wallander & Gen Chevali, they both acknowledge only Russia’s conventional army has been severely hindered, while all other capabilities are intact to include naval. The goal stated is to cripple Russia to the point it has to come to the table and make concessions. The goal is not to defeat Russia, but to cripple Russia’s capacity to wage war in all domains.
Not interested in anything either of these bureaucrats have to say.
ME TOO. They’re drunk on hubris, still stuck in “We’re No 1” mode. WTF!!!!! Can’t win in Afghanistan, but OOOOO. We are gonna crush Russias….. It makes good comedy but not statecraft. Worse yet it is an exitential threat to them and US….!!!!!!
“Can’t win in Afghanistan, but OOOOO. We are gonna crush Russias”
Russia didn’t win in Afghanistan, either.
Russia DID win its proxy war against the US in Vietnam, though. The question there is how much Kyiv is like Hanoi and how much Donetsk is like Saigon.
Nuland: “…Ukraine will not be ‘safe unless Crimea is at a minimum – at a minimum – demilitarized.'” My math tells me otherwise. The only way for Ukraine and Russia to be safe is if NULAND “is at a minimum – at a minimum – demilitarized.” And no, there’s no law against driving a calculator while drinking wine. (Sarcasm alert)
I never use the C word except for special occasions. Nuland is a C. Not quite a Hillary C, but damn close.
They all attend the same covens.
I can’t tell if we are having witch talk or b-itch talk?…
LOL, either way or both.
Yes. And there are so many more. Nuland and Clinton are just the tip of the iceberg. And they’re worldwide. For some reason, they want to be vicious assholes just like men.
Yep.
Hillary and Victoria are way more evil than men can be.
I don’t know Mary. I’ll see your Hillary and Victoria and raise you a Biden and Blinken.
I’ll take that bet, Wars!
NO…WAY…!!!! Biden and Blinken are inept blunderers compared to Clinton & Nuland. I am no fan of their shocking overreach. It’s got WWIII stamped on every surface. “Never back down, even if there’s no way to win.” Bravado & Bluster cow the weak and doubters. But are Putin and Russia weak and doubters as they are destroying Ukraine…??? With their super NUKES …. 4000 times the BLAST of U.S. ones, & their game changer unstoppable HYPERSONIC MISSILES. Maybe their plan to roll Putin could have worked while American eminence in military strength was still extant. And before the wasted decades & trillions chasing Muslims in the Great War On Terror while Russia & China used the time 2 up their game in ‘The Great Game’ of nuclear & rocketry top tier military 2 military war fighting technology. It’s too late. Time waits for no man or state to catch-up. Maybe they can get back the trillions, but the time is lost forever. So too is American invincibility & deterrence!!
7
Straussian neocons and Neo-liberals have been controlling US foreign policy since the Reagan years. Nuland’s husband, Robert Kagan, was a founding member of PNAC which somehow knew that the USA would be attacked on 9/11. That would become the pretext for all the wars of this century. Another PNAC member, Donald Rumsfeld, supposedly had a list of 7 Muslim nations that would be taken out in 5 years. His timing was off with Iran, but all the rest have been taken out in one way or another. All of this aggression has left the USA $32 trillion in debt and the petrodollar about to be flushed down the toilet. There is simply no way out of this predicament at this point in time.
General Clark told on camera about the plan to destroy some Muslim countries using 9/11 as pretext.
Add to that, Biden bragging that he helped write the infamous USA Patriot Act in the 1990s, long before 9/11. They’re all in on the deception.
Yes, there are a lot of evidences that everything was planned before.
Sadly, in this country, that probably got him votes.
In other reporting about the lucky strike it was reported that the Russians hit them the same day with 20 missiles and a couple of drones themselves.
In other words the Russians are hitting them with a lot more stuff while the west is impressed by a shiny burning object that has great visuals.
Well, we watch too many movies ZaSu and that can often times create an alternative reality effect.
Well, we watch too many movies ZaSu and that can often times create an alternative reality effect, which, again, is why I smoke weed……………………………………………………………………
Nuland says Russia has turned Crimea into a massive military installation ? , does she mean like America turned Japan , Germany , Hawaii numerous Islands in the Pacific , many countries in Europe ect ect ect into military installations ?.
That’s okay; Americans alone are the exceptional “good guys” and they are allowed to do that.
Reference: https://images.jacobinmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/20144900/is34-uneven-and-combined-map-1945.png
Ukies used their missiles to fire at Russian missiles, downing one of them in a residential area. Well done. Then they blame that on Russia.
The criminal Kiev regime then started murdering even more people in Donbass, hitting a bus and burning everyone on it alive. That included women and a little girl. (As we know, dead women are always more important than dead men according to the media, so that’s why I mention it.)
The Kiev regime has been murdering people in Donbass for eight years now, firing missiles at apartment buildings, schools and administrative buildings. They especially like to murder people at Christmas and other holidays. They did so this winter as well. But the socialist media don’t mention that. They hate Russia for being conservative, and for supporting pro-Palestinian Syria and Iran, so they support Zelensky’s crimes.