Black smoke billows from an oil depot fire in Crimea. Photo: Telegram
RT on April 30 quoted Natalya Gumenyuk, spokeswoman for the Southern Defense Forces (Ukraine), as saying that the April 29 drone attack on an oil depot in Crimea was part of Kiev's preparations for a planned counterattack.
Speaking on Ukrainian television on April 30, Ms. Gumenyuk said that Kiev has long said that sabotaging the Russian military's logistics system "is one of the factors preparing for strong, proactive actions by the Ukrainian army."
A spokesman for the Southern Ukraine Self-Defense Forces said the drone attack on the Crimean oil depot was "a demonstration of preparations for a large-scale counterattack that Ukrainians and the West are expecting."
Ukrainian President Zelensky declared on April 28 that "Ukrainian counterattack will happen" and expressed hope that this counterattack will help Kiev "regain control" of Crimea as well as four newly annexed regions to Russia: Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson.
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev responded to Mr Zelensky's statement, saying that the statement was "illusory" but that the counterattack should not be underestimated. Mr Medvedev said that Russia should stop the counterattack by "attacking and destroying the equipment and manpower of the Ukrainian army", forcing the Ukrainian army to "accept a complete defeat".
Earlier this week, the US newspaper Politico reported that the US was concerned that the impact of the overblown counteroffensive might not be as expected. Meanwhile, the US newspaper The New York Times warned that Western support for Kiev could wane if the counteroffensive “fails to produce a decisive victory”.
Earlier this month, former Ukrainian Defense Minister Andrey Zagorodnyuk complained that “most Western politicians , journalists, analysts do not see the reality of Kiev taking back Crimea because Russian forces are stationed there.
Firefighters extinguish a fire at an oil depot attacked by a UAV in the Crimean peninsula. Photo: Telegram
An explosion rocked the port of Sevastopol on the morning of April 29 when a UAV crashed into one of the city's oil storage facilities.
Local authorities said the fire covered an area of about 1,000 square meters and destroyed four oil tanks. There were no casualties in the incident.
Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014 after a referendum, has been a frequent target of drone attacks since the conflict broke out in February 2022. The Ukrainian military and the Kiev government have often denied responsibility for these attacks.
Source: life knowledge
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