Kremlin Repels Drone Attack on Crimea's Sevastopol

Facts

• The Russian military thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on the key Russian naval base of Sevastopol in Crimea, Russia's defense ministry said Sunday morning.¹
• A statement from the defense ministry claimed that seven aerial drones were shot down over the Black Sea at a great distance from the coastline, while two underwater drones were destroyed in the northern part of the Black Sea.²
• Earlier, the governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said air defense systems, electronic warfare, and standard weapons downed all nine drones deployed by Ukraine.³
• The alleged drone attack was foiled as the last ship to sail under an UN-brokered wartime deal — which allows the safe transit of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea — left the port of Odesa a day before the agreement with Russia expires.⁴
• Since the Black Sea Grain Initiative began last summer, Ukraine has exported 32.8M tonnes of grain — about 90% of corn and 60% of wheat — to high or middle-income countries, mostly in the Middle East and Africa.⁵
• Meanwhile, Pres. Vladimir Putin reportedly threatened to use Russia's stockpile of cluster bombs if such munitions were used against Russian forces in Ukraine, saying the Kremlin reserves 'the right to take reciprocal action.'⁶

Sources: ¹TASS (a), ²Reuters (a), ³TASS (b), ⁴Reuters (b), ⁵New York Times and ⁶NDTV.com.

Narratives

• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by TASS. Sunday's drone attack from Ukraine is the latest demonstration of Kyiv's use of terrorism and proves the West is directly waging warfare against Russia. The Ukrainian military is trying to show Moscow that its control of Crimea can be threatened, but using Western weapons outside the zone of the special military operation will weaken Kyiv's position in future negotiations and entail immediate retaliatory strikes in Ukraine.
• Pro-Ukraine narrative, as provided by Washington Post. Kyiv must continue to strike at the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 to put it in a vulnerable position. By disrupting Russia's supply lines and destroying its naval bases, from which Iranian drones rain destruction on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, Ukrainian forces have a real chance of achieving victory on the battlefield and bringing the months-long war to a successful conclusion — on Kyiv's terms.