Ukraine says Russian cruise missiles destroyed in Crimea

Kyiv however has denied responsibility for the ‘mysterious’ incident today.

KYIV: Ukraine said today that Russian cruises missiles were destroyed in a blast on the Crimean peninsula that was annexed by Moscow in 2014, but denied responsibility for the “mysterious” incident.

“An explosion in the town of Dzhankoi in the north of temporarily occupied Crimea destroyed Russian Kalibr-NK cruise missiles as they were being transported by rail,” Kyiv’s military intelligence said in a statement on social media.

Russian investigators had earlier said that air defence systems repelled a drone attack at Dzhankoi and that debris from the incident damaged a shop and home and left one person injured.

“The targets of all downed drones were civilian objects,” the investigative committee added in its statement.

Dzhankoi is a logistics hub on the border between Russian-controlled Crimea and southern Ukraine, which came under control of Russian forces after they invaded in February last year.

Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the Russian-installed head of Crimea, said the attack was apparently “revenge” for the annexation, several days after Moscow celebrated the ninth anniversary of the region’s takeover.

Russian president Vladimir Putin visited Crimea over the weekend, his first to the peninsula since he sent troops to Ukraine on Feb 24 last year.