(Moscou) Une attaque de drones a provoqué samedi un gigantesque incendie dans un dépôt de pétrole en Crimée annexée par Moscou et des villes occupées ont été bombardées, au lendemain de l’annonce par Kyiv que ses préparatifs pour une offensive de printemps étaient presque terminés.
L’incendie s’est déclaré dans un dépôt de pétrole à Sébastopol, le port d’attache de la flotte russe de la mer Noire en Crimée, ont annoncé les autorités locales.
Cette attaque présumée a eu lieu alors que la veille l’Ukraine s’est dite prête à lancer son offensive de printemps contre les forces russes afin de les chasser des territoires qu’elles contrôlent.
« Un incendie est en cours dans un dépôt de pétrole dans la baie de Kazatchia […]. According to preliminary information, it was caused by a drone strike,” Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Rasvozhayev wrote in a telegram, stressing that “no one was injured.”
60 firemen were dispatched to the spot to douse the fire which spread over an area of about 1000 meters.2 And it should be brought under control only by evening, he said.
“The situation is under control”, Mr. Rasvozhayev assured that “public infrastructures are not threatened”.
A total of four oil tanks were damaged and “burned,” he told reporters, quoted by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
The Kremlin has not commented on the attack.
Crimea, a peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, has been the target of repeated aerial and naval drone strikes since the Russian offensive in Ukraine began in February 2022. The most important happened in October 2022.
In mid-April, officials announced the cancellation of the 1st celebrationsR and May 9 (the official date of the end of World War II in Russia) on the peninsula, citing “security concerns.”
The drone strikes came less than 24 hours after Russian cruise missiles hit apartment buildings in central Ukraine, including Uman, where at least 23 people were killed.
At least 26 people were killed Friday in a series of Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities.
On Saturday, Ukrainian authorities said five children were among the dead.
Heavy artillery fire at Nova Kakovka
The Russian-founded town of Nova Kakhovka, located in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, was cut off on Saturday after “intense” Ukrainian artillery fire, local officials said.
“Due to intense artillery fire today […] Nova Khakovka was without electricity,” said the military and civil administration established by Russia in the city, which had a population of 45,000 before the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.
Repair work to restore power will begin once the “brutal” artillery barrage ends, the report said, citing “damage” to the municipal power plant and transmission lines.
Moscow says it will annex the Kherson region from September 2022, but its forces are only partially in control. The Russian army suffered a major setback in Kherson last year, forcing it to abandon the regional capital of the same name.
In late March, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced that Russian forces had withdrawn from their positions in Nova Khakovka, where the hydroelectric dam is located.
This information was denied by the Ukrainian civil servant, who admitted it was an error.
