Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev has announced the end of the missile and aviation threat in Sevastopol, but asked citizens to refrain from traveling to the city center.
The roads are blocked there and “a number of specific measures are in progress," he stated.
He added that efforts to extinguish the fire at the Black Sea Fleet headquarters are continuing and that “the manpower and resources there are sufficient.”
“Please remain calm. The situation is under the control of the emergency services. According to preliminary information, civilian infrastructure near the fleet headquarters has not been damaged. The people who were on the street at the moment of the missile strike have not been injured either,” Razvozhaev assured.
He also said that Acting Deputy Governor Yevgeny Gorlov, Acting Director of Public Security Department Alexey Krasnokutsky and head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Alexey Rokhlin work at an operational headquarters deployed on the spot.
Additionally, Razvozhaev cited the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) as saying that during a missile attack on Sevastopol, the historical building of the Black Sea Fleet headquarters had been damaged, and one Russian serviceman had been missing. According to the MoD, the Russian air defenses downed at least five missiles during the attack.
Crimea’s head Sergey Aksenov, in turn, said that the air defenses had shot down cruise missiles over the peninsula, urging locals to keep calm and trust only official sources of information.
According to Oleg Kryuchkov, adviser to the head of Crimea, one of the missiles was downed in the Bakhchisarai area, where the grass caught fire as a result of falling debris.
This came after he said that a missile hit the Black Sea Fleet's headquarters in Sevastopol, and thatr information about the victims is being clarified.
"The enemy launched a missile attack on the fleet headquarters. A fragment fell near the Lunacharsky Theater... All operational services went to the incident scene. Information about the victims is being clarified. Please remain calm. And do not post photos and videos," Razvozhaev said on Telegram. He warned of a possible new attack on the Black Sea Fleet's headquarters.
The Russian air defense systems were reported to be in operation on the Сrimean Peninsula, as the movement of cars on the Crimean bridge was temporarily suspended. The center of the city was in smoke, and air-raid siren was heard shortly after the missile strilke, according to Sputnik correspondent.
The developments come after the Russian MoD said that at about 10:30 local time that the air defenses destroyed a Ukrainian guided missile and two aircraft-type drones off the west coast of Crimea. Two drones were also shot down on the night of September 22, according to the MoD.
Ukraine has been launching drones into Russian territory almost daily since it launched a counteroffensive in early June. About three months later, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Ukrainian counteroffensive had failed, with Ukraine losing over 71,000 casualties and more than 500 tanks.
