Ukraine War Briefing: Two Ships and Base Hit in Russian-Occupied Crimea
Outcry after Russian missile breaches Polish airspace; Ukraine grapples with attacks on gas and electricity networks. What we know on day 761
By Warren Murray 3/25/2024
- Ukraine hit two Russian military ships stationed at the illegally occupied peninsula of Crimea, the Ukrainian military said on Sunday. The targets were the landing ships Yamal and Azov, a communications centre and other Black Sea fleet infrastructure. “It was the most massive attack in recent times,” said the Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev. He said a 65-year-old man was killed and four people injured. Footage shared on social media showed a large blast in the city, sending a fireball and black smoke into the air.
- Poland said it would demand an explanation from Moscow after a Russian missile breached Polish airspace during a missile attack on Ukraine, Ashifa Kassam writes. Nato member Poland put its forces on heightened alert as a consequence. “Above all, we call on the Russian Federation to stop the terrorist air attacks on the inhabitants and territory of Ukraine, end the war and address the country’s internal problems,” said a Polish foreign ministry statement.
- After the Polish airspace breach, the US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, said Russia “continues to indiscriminately launch drones and missiles with no regard for millions of civilians, violating international law”.
- An underground gas storage site in Ukraine was attacked on Sunday as Russian missile strikes on power facilities continued and rolling blackouts were occurring. Ukraine’s state-run Naftogaz energy firm reported the attack on the gas storage site, but added that gas supplies to consumers had not been affected. Most of Ukraine’s gas storage capacity is in the western part of the country and it is able to store around 30bn cubic metres of gas.
- Ukraine’s energy ministry and distributors said Ukraine had ramped up imports of electricity and halted exports after the recent Russian attacks in which the biggest energy producer, DTEK, lost 50% of its capacity. Russia attacked Ukrainian generating and transmission facilities on Friday, causing significant blackouts in many regions, and energy facilities in three Ukrainian regions were also attacked early on Sunday.
- Volodymy Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address on Sunday, said more than 200,000 residents of Kharkiv, a frequent target of Russian attacks, were without reliable power. The network had been restored elsewhere, the Ukrainian president said. “Strict schedules” for power use were in force in Kharkiv, he said. DTEK said rolling blackouts had been imposed in the port of Odesa.
- Serhiy Kovalenko, the head of distribution firm Yasno, said Russia had attacked two parts of the energy system – generation and distribution – hitting both thermal and hydropower plants. “The enemy hit hard at grid nodes and transformers,” he said. The energy ministry said Russia attempted on Sunday to destroy a critical energy infrastructure facility in the Lviv region in western Ukraine. Equipment caught fire and the facility lost power. Power lines in the Kyiv region were damaged and 1,400 households in two settlements lost power.
- Russia on Sunday said air defences responded to 22 Vampire missiles launched by Ukraine at Russia’s Belgorod region.