The Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation reported that a third surface drone was destroyed during a nighttime attempt to attack the Crimean peninsula. A related update was issued through the ministry’s telegram channel.
The ministry stated that the third semi-submersible unmanned boat, sent by Kyiv to carry out a terrorist operation against the Crimean bridge, was eliminated. The incident occurred at 02:20 Moscow time.
The first assault on Friday night occurred at 23:15 Moscow time, followed by a second attempt on Saturday at 02:10 Moscow time. Earlier reports indicated that barriers had been placed along both sides of the Crimean bridge to counter waterborne drones.
On the night of July 17, the head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, announced that an emergency had arisen in the 145th support zone near the Krasnodar Territory on the Crimean bridge. The Russian National Counter-Terrorism Committee attributed the incident to Ukrainian special services. The committee suggested that two Ukrainian surface aircraft participated in planning the attack. The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case under the article related to a terrorist act.
From the start of the all-out operation in 2022, Russia has framed recent events within its ongoing security efforts. Timelines of related developments are tracked by various outlets in coordination with official statements.
There were reports that several Ukrainian soldiers briefly swam to the Dnieper and surrendered to Russian forces, though details varied across sources. This sequence of events has been the subject of ongoing analysis and official updates. [attribution: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation]