Support The Moscow Times!

Crimea at Risk of Ukrainian Attacks, Kremlin Says

A field voting in a referendum on the Donetsk People’s Republic joining Russia in Mariupol. Yegor Aleyev / TASS

Russian-annexed Crimea remains at risk of Ukrainian attacks, the Kremlin said Thursday after Russian-aligned authorities claimed to have shot down a drone over the Black Sea peninsula.

The Crimean affiliate of the U.S. news organization RFE/RL reported hearing powerful explosions in the port of Sevastopol, which is home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

Sevastopol’s Kremlin-aligned Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said the sound was that of a drone being shot down.

“There are risks, undoubtedly, because the Ukrainian side continues its policy of organizing terrorist attacks,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing.

Russian military sites in Crimea, as well as the bridge linking mainland Russia to the peninsula, have been hit by a series of strikes since Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine in February, prompting its Kremlin-aligned governor to order the construction of defensive fortifications last month.

Peskov on Thursday called Crimea’s steps to fortify defenses “effective,” but stopped short of assessing whether they were enough to protect against future attacks.

Kyiv has vowed to retake Crimea — which Russia seized in 2014 following pro-democracy protests in Ukraine and the ouster of Kyiv’s Kremlin-friendly president — as it has liberated nearby Russian-held areas.

Peskov denied that Russia launched its invasion to capture new Ukrainian territories, clarifying President Vladimir Putin's comments the previous day that newly Moscow-annexed territories signify “significant results” in the military campaign.

“One of the main goals of the special military operation, as announced by the president on Feb. 24, was to protect the people who live in southeast Ukraine, in the Donbas,” Peskov said.

“These territories were annexed as a result of referendums in line with that protection,” Putin’s spokesman said in a daily briefing with reporters.

International observers have widely criticized the September referendums in Ukraine's Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions as a sham.

When asked how long the war would continue, Peskov redirected the question to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who predicted “peacetime” by next year in an interview with Politico Europe.

“Zelensky knows when it can all end, it can all end tomorrow if he wants to,” Peskov said after Putin conceded Wednesday that the campaign could become “lengthy.”

AFP contributed reporting.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more