Drone Bombs Russia's Black Sea Fleet HQ In Crimea

A small explosive device carried by a makeshift drone blew up Sunday, July 31, 2022, at the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet on the Crimean Peninsula, wounding six people and prompting the cancellation of ceremonies honoring Russia’s navy, authorities said, Susie Blann reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Shelling killed one of Ukraine’s wealthiest men, Oleksiy Vadatursky, and his wife.

Mykolaiv Mayor Vitaliy Kim said shelling killed one of Ukraine’s wealthiest men, Oleksiy Vadatursky, and his wife. Vadatursky headed a grain production and export business. Another presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said Vadatursky was specifically targeted.

It “was not an accident, but a well-thought-out and organized premeditated murder. Vadatursky was one of the largest farmers in the country, a key person in the region, and a major employer. That the exact hit of a rocket was not just in a house, but in a specific wing, the bedroom, leaves no doubt about aiming and adjusting the strike,” he said. Vadatursky’s agribusiness, Nibulon, includes a fleet of ships for sending grain abroad.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the drone explosion at the naval headquarters. But the seemingly improvised, small-scale nature of the attack raised the possibility that it was the work of Ukrainian insurgents trying to drive out Russian forces.

The blast took place in the port city of Sevastopol in Crimea, which was seized from Ukraine by Russia in 2014. Observances of Russia’s Navy Day holiday were canceled in Sevastopol.

Podolyak said on Twitter that images of the prison where at least 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) were killed in an explosion on Friday indicated that the blast came from within the building in Olenivka.

Russian officials have claimed the building was attacked by Ukraine with the aim of silencing POWs who might be giving information about Ukrainian military operations. Ukraine has blamed Russia for the explosion.

Satellite photos taken before and after show that a small, squarish building in the middle of the prison complex was demolished, its roof in splinters. Podolyak said those images and the lack of damage to adjacent structures showed that the building was not attacked from the air or by artillery.

He contended the evidence was consistent with a hyperbaric bomb set off inside.

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