Russia says it destroyed 3 Ukrainian drones targeting Crimea bridge

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox

Kyiv, which plans to take Crimea back, has repeatedly targeted the strategic bridge that connects the peninsula to the Russian mainland.

Kyiv, which plans to take Crimea back, has repeatedly targeted the strategic bridge that connects the peninsula to the Russian mainland.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Google Preferred Source badge

MOSCOW – Russian forces destroyed three Ukrainian naval drones that targeted the Crimea bridge, Moscow said early on Saturday.

“On Sept 2, at about 2.20am Moscow time, the third Ukrainian semi-submersible unmanned boat, sent by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge, was destroyed in the Black Sea,” Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Telegram.

One drone was destroyed on Friday and two others early on Saturday, it said.

Kyiv, which says it plans to take Crimea back, has repeatedly targeted the strategic bridge that connects the peninsula to the Russian mainland.

Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014,

has been targeted by Kyiv throughout Moscow’s Ukraine offensive but has recently come under more intense, increased attacks.

In August, the peninsula’s Russian-installed governor said Russian air defence forces had shot down three Ukrainian missiles over the bridge, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pet projects.

The 18km concrete bridge consists of two parallel structures, one reserved for road traffic and the other for rail traffic.

An attack in July caused major damage to the road section of the bridge, which is also used to transport military equipment. AFP

See more on