Two of Putin’s warships hit in Crimea strikes, Kyiv says

Two Russian warships have been hit in attacks on the annexed Crimean Peninsula on Sunday, Ukraine has said.

Moscow said air defences had shot down more than 10 missiles over the port of Sevastopol during the incident in the early hours.

“The defence forces of Ukraine successfully hit the Azov and Yamal large landing ships, a communications centre and also several infrastructure facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in temporarily occupied Crimea,” Ukraine’s military said.

The attack came after Poland accused Russia of violating its airspace on Sunday morning with a cruise missile launched at targets in western Ukraine.

Russia launched 57 missiles and drones on Ukraine in early on Sunday, including attacking Kyiv and the western region of Lviv that is near the Polish border.

The Polish Foreign Ministry said it would demand explanations from Russia over the airspace violation.

The incident came two days after Poland’s government announced it was preparing new legislation to boost the nation’s capacity for self-defence.

The Ukrainian military said it hit two large Russian landing ships in attacks on the annexed Crimean Peninsula early on Sunday, as well as a communications centre and other infrastructure used by the Russian navy in the Black Sea.

The statement did not say how it hit the targets, but a Moscow-installed official in the region reported a major Ukrainian air attack and said air defences had shot down more than 10 missiles over the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

“The defence forces of Ukraine successfully hit the Azov and Yamal large landing ships, a communications centre and also several infrastructure facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in temporarily occupied Crimea,” Ukraine’s military said.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, said on the Telegram messaging app that a 65-year-old man was killed when three homes were hit by shrapnel.

He also said earlier on Sunday that transport infrastructure including passenger boats and buses were partially damaged, with windows broken on five boats. Three passenger buses, 13 school buses and one trolley bus were among vehicles damaged, he added.

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