Ukraine fires missile at shipyard in Crimea

The Ukrainian army launched a missile attack on a shipyard in the city of Kerch on the Crimean peninsula, damaging a Russian warship.

"The Ukrainian armed forces carried out a successful attack on maritime infrastructure and a shipyard in Kerch," the Ukrainian military announced on November 4, but did not specify the method of attack and the damage caused in the attack.

The Russian Defense Ministry later said that Ukraine launched 15 cruise missiles at the BE Butoma shipyard in the city of Kerch, 13 of which were shot down by Russian air defenses. A ship at the plant was damaged by the missile.

B.E. Butoma shipyard in Crimea in June 2017. Photo: RIA Novosti — BE Butoma shipyard in Crimea in June 2017. Photo: *RIA Novosti*

Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula after a 2014 referendum, a move Ukraine and the West consider illegal. Ukraine has vowed to reclaim the peninsula at all costs.

Ukraine has recently launched several attacks using missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and suicide boats against Russian targets on or around the Crimean peninsula.

On October 30, Russian air defenses shot down all eight Storm Shadow cruise missiles that Ukraine launched at Crimea. Three days later, Russian forces shot down six Ukrainian UAVs approaching the peninsula.

Ukraine launched a missile attack on the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet in the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula on September 22. Russian officials said the attack damaged the building housing the Black Sea Fleet headquarters. Meanwhile, Ukraine claimed that dozens of Russian servicemen were killed and wounded in the attack.