Ukraine Rains Missiles On Russia Army Base In Crimea. One Personnel Killed, Says Defence Ministry 

According to the Russian Defence Ministry, five missiles were shot down by their air defence systems in retaliation to the attack on Sevastopol.

Locals at Sevastopol said they heard explosions going off and saw smoke billowing out of the Black Sea fleet headquarters.

Source : Getty Images

New Delhi: Ukraine, on Friday, launched a missile strike on the main headquarters of the Russian Black Sea fleet, killing one personnel, news agency AP reported quoting the Defence Ministry in Moscow. According to the report, there were images and visuals of thick plumes of smoke billowing out of the Black Sea fleet headquarters at Sevastopol in annexed Crimea.

The report quoted the governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, a Russia appointee, as saying that no one was injured outside the burning headquarters. However, the governor did not say if there were other fatalities or casualties in the missile strike, AP reported, adding that firefighters rushed to the scene to fight the blaze from the missile strike and additional emergency response personnel were also called in.

The report further quoted locals at Sevastopol as saying that they heard explosions going off and saw smoke, AP reported citing Russian media.

Images, the veracity of which AP could not immediately affirm, showed clouds of smoke over the seafront.

Further, the report citing Russia’s Tass news agency said ambulances streamed into the headquarters of the Black Sea fleet after the missile strike and shrapnel was strewn over hundreds of metres.

The Sevastopol governor told AP that public infrastructure wasn’t damaged in the attack. However, he did not share details of the extent of damage to the Russian fleet headquarters.

Further, the agency quoted Russian Defence Ministry as saying that five missiles were shot down by their air defence systems in retaliation to the attack on Sevastopol. However, the officials couldn’t confirm if the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet was targeted directly by an enemy missile or it was struck by the debris from a missile that was shot down.

Meanwhile, AFP reported that Crimea was hit by an “unprecedented” cyberattack. However, the agency did not share any further details of the incident.