Ukraine has targeted the Kerch Bridge in a rare daytime missile attack on the Crimean Peninsula that Moscow claims was shot down before causing any damage.

Videos circulating social media show two columns of smoke rising around the bridge. The Telegraph was not immediately able to verify whether the bridge had been damaged.

“Air defence forces shot down two enemy missiles over the Kerch Strait. The Crimean bridge was not damaged,” Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of the Crimean peninsula, posted on Telegram. Aksyonov’s adviser claimed that the billows of smoke were a “cover” created by rescue services.

Meanwhile, the Russian defence ministry said that Ukraine had tried to strike the bridge using S-200 anti-aircraft rockets.

The attack is believed to be the first time that the Kerch Bridge has been targeted in the daytime, and came just hours after the Russian defence ministry claimed that they had downed 20 drones targeting the occupied-Crimean peninsula early on Saturday.

#Crimea #Russia #Ukraine

Correspondents at the Wall Street Journal and Kyiv Post have shared videos on X, formerly Twitter.

The Russian defence ministry this morning claimed that they had downed 20 drones targeting the occupied-Crimean peninsula early on Saturday.

In a statement released on Telegram, the ministry said that 14 of the drones were shot down and the other six were electronically jammed.

There were no reported casualties or damage and it was not immediately clear what the drone attack was trying to target.

According to reports online, explosions were heard in the Novooozerne area. Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the Novooozerne area is home to a large military storage base.

The drone attack caused further disruption to bridges in the Crimean peninsula and again halted traffic on the Kerch – or Crimean – Bridge for two hours between 1:30 and 3:30 am.

There has been a significant uptick in drone warfare from both warring countries, but a significant rise in the number of drones attacking Russian territory. Kyiv appears to have made it a matter of policy to not publicly comment on the attacks heading toward Russia.

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