Russia slams Ukraine Crimea attack as ‘barbaric’, vows retaliation

Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned Ukraine’s “terrorist attack” on Crimean Bridge, saying it put innocent civilians’ lives at risk, and vowed retaliation.

On Sunday, Russian Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that Kiev’s attempt to attack the bridge was a “barbaric action.”

“Such acts of sabotage provide the international community with a change to see for themselves the true colors of the Kiev regime. Such barbaric actions cannot be justified, and they will not remain without a response,” the statement said, according to TASS News agency.

“There can be no justification for such barbaric actions and they will not go unanswered,” it added.

Earlier, Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had thwarted a Ukrainian rocket attack on the 12-mile (19 km) bridge, which links Crimea to Russia across the Kerch Strait.

In a statement on Thursday, Russia’s defense ministry said the country’s air defense systems downed 11 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the vicinity of Crimea overnight, as well as two other such aircraft flying toward the capital Moscow.

It said two Ukrainian drones were shot down near the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean coast, and “another nine were suppressed by means of electronic warfare and crashed in the Black Sea.”

The strikes came just a day after the Russian military said that it had managed to shoot down two Ukrainian Moscow-bound combat drones -- at least the fourth attack near the capital within a week.

Russia says downs 11 Ukrainian drones near Crimea, 2 others bound for Moscow

The Russian military says it has managed to down 13 Ukrainian drones near Crimea and Moscow.

Russia began a full-scale war on Ukraine in February last year, but its capital has come under a series of drone attacks only in recent months.

The Crimean peninsula, which rejoined Russia back in 2014 after a referendum, has also been disrupted by several strikes throughout the war, and has seen more frequent attacks during the past several weeks.

The number of drone missiles and drone strikes against Russia has dramatically increased in the past weeks as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently hinted at a change in Kiev’s failed tactics.

Ukraine launched a hyped counteroffensive in early June after multiple postponements, but till now, the counteroffensive against Russia has been to no avail.

The Kremlin says the West and NATO are playing a direct role in the Ukraine conflict by pouring advanced weapons and military equipment into the country, warning that NATO weapons are “legitimate targets” for its armed forces.

Moscow has frequently warned that the continued supply of Western arms and military equipment to the Ukrainian military would only prolong the war and add to the suffering of the Ukrainian people.

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