loading . . . Drone strikes hit key Russian military and energy sites across occupied Crimea in overnight assault A wave of aerial assaults hit strategic sites across Russian-occupied Crimea late on April 13, extending into the early hours of April 14, according to monitoring channels. The attacks targeted critical infrastructure in major cities across the peninsula, including energy facilities, airfields, oil storage sites, and ports.
A coordinated night-time assault, involving drones and possibly other weaponry, struck locations from Krasnoperekopsk to Kerch, as detailed in updates from the resistance monitoring group "Crimean Wind" on Telegram . Explosions were recorded near the Tavricheskaya thermal power station and an oil depot adjacent to the "Gvardeyskoye" military airbase outside Simferopol.
In Kerch - a city close to the strategically vital Crimean Bridge - there were reports of drone activity as well as the launches of Russian Pantsir air-defense missiles and bursts of machine-gun fire.
Around 2:44 a.m. local time on April 14, the monitoring channel Exilenova+ published a photo showing flames rising from an unspecified facility in Crimea. Loud explosions were heard across multiple locations overnight, including Simferopol, Feodosia, and Kerch. The drone raids reportedly continued for several hours, with details on damage still emerging.
Initial reports of aerial targets appeared at 11:11 p.m., with sightings of flying objects moving south over Krasnoperekopsk. By 11:43 p.m., witnesses reported a powerful explosion near Simferopol, as Russian forces attempted to shoot down airborne targets with machine guns. Gunfire was heard on Lesya Ukrainka Street at the city's western edge and near the village of Donskoye. "Crimean Wind" cited subscribers who described hearing “something heavy” flying overhead - not just conventional drones, though specifics were not provided.
At approximately 12:50 a.m., three explosions were reported near the Tavricheskaya power plant. Around the same time, residents near the Gvardeyskoye airfield heard two to three blasts and sustained gunfire. According to local sources, an oil depot near Simferopol’s airport may have been among the targets. Russian Pantsir air-defense systems and anti-aircraft machine guns were active near the settlements of Mirnoe and Shkolnoe as drone attacks persisted into the night.
Russian air defenses were also active along Crimea’s southern coast, with gunfire reported over the sea and in the areas of Feodosia and Kerch around 2:12 a.m.
According to monitoring channel reports, upward of seven or eight separate explosions were recorded across occupied Crimea overnight. Google Maps data confirms that the main areas affected were the central and southern districts of the peninsula.
Russian-installed Crimean governor Mikhail Razvozhayev has yet to comment on the overnight blasts. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed Sunday morning that it had shot down 97 Ukrainian drones from 8:00 p.m. on April 13 to 7:00 a.m. on April 14. These drones were said to have been intercepted over seven regions in western and southern Russia, as well as occupied Crimea and the Sea of Azov.
The Ukrainian military has not yet released information regarding the outcomes or objectives of these overnight strikes on Russian-held strategic targets in Crimea.
On April 2, Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence and Border Service drones targeted the “Kirovsky” airbase in Crimea, reportedly destroying a group of Russian Orion strike-reconnaissance drones in a series of airstrikes.
Just weeks earlier, Ukrainian forces struck a Bastion missile complex in Crimea, which had been used to fire Oniks and Zircon missiles at Ukrainian targets.
This latest escalation underscores the ongoing contest for control over strategic assets in Crimea, with both sides deploying increasingly advanced technologies in the fight. https://www.uawire.org/drone-strikes-hit-key-russian-military-and-energy-sites-across-occupied-crimea-in-overnight-assault
