Drone attacks ignite chaos in Novorossiysk and Crimea
"They blew up the port!" a resident of Novorossiysk screams in a recording published by the media. During the night, the Russian city was attacked by drones. Explosions also occurred in occupied Crimea. Russian air defense forces, Crimea's defense forces, and the Russian navy repelled the attack.
7:32 AM EDT, May 17, 2024
The attack on occupied Crimea began during the night from Thursday to Friday. A representative of the occupation authorities of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, stated in a message posted on Telegram that the military was "repelling an attack by unmanned aerial vehicles on Sevastopol." Drone debris fell on several objects, including a power substation, leaving part of the city without power.
Air and sea drone attack on Crimea
Crimea was attacked by aerial and sea drones. "Air defense forces, the navy, and Crimea defense forces are still destroying unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned boats in various areas of Sevastopol," added Razvozhayev.
Sirens wailed in Novorossiysk about an hour after the attack began. Novorossiysk is approximately 220 miles away in a straight line in Krasnodar Krai and is home to one of the main ports of the Black Sea. Residents of Novorossiysk claimed there were at least 35 explosions in the city. Authorities had earlier stated that exercises were to be conducted at the port around 11 PM local time. However, the attack occurred around 8:16 PM Eastern Time.
According to Astra, explosions took place at the port. In published videos, powerful, repeated explosions can be heard. Moments later, the city lost power.
Powerful explosions in Novorossiysk
The WczK-OGPU channel published a video showing the attempt by Russian air defense forces to shoot down drones. One of the residents of Novorossiysk shouts: "They blew up the port. They blew up our port!" Another Russian woman filmed the moment of the explosion in Sevastopol. "Let's go to the basement," can be heard on the video.
Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Krasnodar Krai, stated in a message published after 3:12 PM Eastern Time that "tonight, the regime in Kyiv unsuccessfully tried to attack civilian targets in the territory of Novorossiysk." According to Kondratyev, about 10 drones were shot down. "Local fires broke out due to the fallen devices currently being put out. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties. I ask the residents of Novorossiysk to remain calm and not to post photos and videos of our air defense systems in action on social media," he appealed.
The WczK-OGPU channel reports that the target of the drone attack on Novorossiysk was the oil terminal and the Transneft terminal. The governor of Sevastopol conveyed that "dozens of drones" and "more than five unmanned boats" were destroyed over the city.
