Razvozhaev said that the drone crashed into the roof of the headquarters. He asked residents of the city to stay home for the next few hours.
“I am at the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet. 25 minutes ago a drone flew over the roof. Unfortunately, he was not hit, despite working with small arms in the bay. It went low. No victims, All services are in place, we are working. Keep calm and stay home as soon as possible.”
– Wrote On the Governor Telegram channel.
Later, he explained that the UAV was made by “PVN (the task of the air defense of the fleet). They shot down a UAV just above the headquarters. It fell on the roof and caught fire.
On the evening of August 19, Razvozhaev also reported that a drone had crashed over the city.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine tried unsuccessfully to attack the Evpatoria, Kerch and Sevastopol regions. Eyewitnesses report the work of the air defense forces on an air object over the Bakhchisaray area. Air defense systems hit all targets, no loss of life and no damage. On August 18, the Belbek airport near Sevastopol was attacked, and a Ukrainian UAV was also shot down there.
Air defense work over Evpatoria on Telegram channel on August 19 approved Information policy adviser to the President of Crimea Oleg Kryuchkov. The day before, he confirmed the work of air defense over Kerch. According to him, there is no damage in the city, no injuries.
“The air defense system probably worked in Evpatoria. Kryuchkov wrote that Crimea is under reliable protection.
He later said that unmanned aerial vehicles belonging to the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not carry large warheads and cannot cause serious damage to the infrastructure of the peninsula.
“Small drone attacks continue. The aim is non-military, psychological, the blame is minimal, and it is impossible to inflict great harm on them. The best way to help the army and navy is to remain calm and report all suspicious people, facts, findings to the relevant authorities, ”wrote Kryuchkov.
An eyewitness told TASS that at least two rockets were launched into the sky over Evpatoria. “I saw two dark stripes and lightning in the sky from my balcony,” the source said.
Information about attempts to attack in the west of the peninsula was confirmed by the head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, on the Telegram channel. He said that on the morning of August 20, the Russian air defense system had hit a “target” in the west of the area. He stressed that Russian soldiers “carry out their duties clearly, professionally and efficiently”. Aksyonov urged residents to remain calm and not rely on information other than official information regarding the incident.
“An air defense system exploded in western Crimea. Target hit. “There were no casualties or injuries,” he said.
“They can’t do anything”
Crimean Senator Olga Kovitidi commented on the provocations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the skies of Crimea and noted that the Kyiv authorities have been bombing Donbass for eight years and now they have decided to change their strategy.
“Donbass was bombed just because they called themselves Russians and wanted to go to Russia. Now they have decided to apply a similar technique in Crimea, we know very well that they work very systematically in social networks, they are trying to trap people in order to shake Russia from the inside. They will not succeed, I can say for sure.”
Senator Sergei Tsekov, in an interview with Lente.ru, said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine is trying to attack the Crimea from UAVs to raise the morale of the personnel.
“They (Kyiv authorities) cannot boast of any counterattack, liberation of certain areas, so they concentrated their efforts on sabotage. Sabotage requires low costs – both human costs and costs of the armed forces,” he said.
To prevent new sabotage, the senator suggested strengthening the protection of Russian areas on the Ukrainian border.
In general, we have to worry about attacks on our lands, such as the Kursk region, Belgorod region, Bryansk region. “We have to worry about artillery attacks on the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, where civilians die every day,” he said.
Washington’s hand
On August 20, RIA Novosti reported that the United States will begin deliveries of Phoenix Ghost mobile munitions to Ukraine in late August, citing a Pentagon spokesperson. Earlier, the White House announced that the United States would hand over 580 such drones to Ukraine.
“We will start delivering Phoenix Ghost systems later this month,” he said, adding that deliveries are scheduled to take place on a regular basis.
Phoenix Ghost is an operational-tactical reconnaissance aircraft. It has low visual, radar, infrared and acoustic visibility and can be used to correct artillery fire when using the BATES target designation system.
On August 19, the Pentagon reported that the United States expects to hand over NASAMS mobile anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine within two or three months.
NASAMS will be the first modern Western medium-range air defense system that Ukraine will receive.
On August 18, Politico, citing a senior US administration official, reported that the US had accepted the possibility of using weapons supplied to Kiev to launch an attack on Crimea.
“We (USA) do not choose targets, of course, everything we set is for self-defense. Any target to be chosen on Ukrainian soil is, by definition, self-defense. Crimea is Ukraine, ”the source quoted the publication.
On August 17, Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov announced the possibility of using US-supplied weapons to attack Crimea.