Attacks escalate
\n MOSCOW
\nA Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea Saturday blew up an ammunition depot, sparking evacuations on the Moscow-annexed peninsula and halting rail traffic, just five days after drones damaged Russia\u2019s symbolic bridge across the Kerch Strait.
\nCrimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, has been targeted by Kyiv throughout Moscow\u2019s 17-month long Ukraine offensive but has come under more intense, increased attacks in recent weeks.
\nIn a counteroffensive launched to retake lands lost to Moscow, Kyiv has increasingly made clear \u2014 despite some Western unease \u2014 that it aims to also take back the Black Sea peninsula.
\n\u201cThe goal is to return Crimea,\u201d Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said, according to a transcript published by his office Saturday of a speech addressing the Aspen Security Forum Friday.
\nHe said Kyiv considers the Crimea bridge \u2014 opened by Russian leader Vladimir Putin in 2018 \u2014 as an \u201cenemy object\u201d and wants it to be \u201cneutralized.\u201d
\nLess than 24 hours later, the Moscow-installed head of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov, said an \u201cenemy\u201d drone had detonated an ammunition depot.
\n\u201cAs a result of an attack by an enemy drone on the Krasnogvardeisky district, an ammunition depot detonated,\u201d Aksyonov said on Telegram, referring to an area that lies inland at the center of Crimea.
\nHe did not specify exactly where it hit and ordered the evacuation of people living within five kilometers of the zone, without saying how many residents would be moved.
\nAksyonov reported no casualties and claimed there was little damage, but unverified videos on social media showed billowing smoke rising into the air.
\nHe also said rail traffic will be stopped on the peninsula: \u201cTo minimize risks, it was also decided to halt rail traffic on Crimean railways.\u201d
\nAuthorities later said that two trains going from Moscow to Crimea\u2019s main city of Simferopol and one in the opposite direction had been stopped.
\nRoad traffic across the Crimea bridge \u2014 one of the few ways to get out of Crimea as flights have been canceled during the conflict \u2014 only resumed Saturday after a Ukrainian attack damaged the bridge Tuesday, killing two people.
\nThe attacks on Crimea have come as many of Kyiv\u2019s Western allies feel uncomfortable about Ukrainian ambitions to take back the annexed land, fearing a larger scale conflict with Russia.
\nThey have also signified a sharp escalation in the Black Sea area, with Russia this week exiting the landmark grain deal that allowed the safe passage of cargo ships and saying it would consider vessels destined for Ukraine as potential military targets.
\nUkraine has also warned that it may consider vessels heading to Russian ports as \u201ccarrying military cargo.\u201d
\nIn his speech, Zelensky warned that Moscow \u201cbelieves that the Black Sea is purely Russian.\u201d
\nHe said Kyiv was \u201clooking for a way out\u201d to find a new grain corridor after Moscow exited the deal and that it was talking to other Black Sea countries such as Turkiye, Romania and Bulgaria.
\nKyiv has called on the United Nations and neighboring countries to secure safe passage for cargoes through joint patrols.
\nThe Russian army on Friday carried out live fire exercises in the Black Sea, with the UN warning against escalation.
\nOn the battlefield, Moscow\u2019s forces said Saturday that they had pushed back three Ukrainian attacks in the eastern villages of Urozhayniy and Priyutniy.
\nRussia also alleged that Kyiv had used notorious cluster munitions on the Russian border village of Zhuravlevka, two weeks after the US was criticized for sending the controversial weapons to Ukraine.
\nUS President Joe Biden faced fierce criticism from his own allies earlier this month for sending the munitions \u2014 that can have long-term risk to civilians.
\nBelgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said \u201cthree cluster munitions from a multiple rocket launcher were fired (by the Ukrainian army) at the village of Zhuravlevka\u201d on Friday.
\nThe small village lies on the border with Ukraine in a region that has seen near daily cross-border attacks for months.
\nIt was the first time Russia reported the weapons were used on its territory.
\nBiden earlier this month said he had made a \u201cvery difficult decision\u201d to send the weapons to Kyiv.
\nPutin has said Moscow had enough cluster munition to answer if Ukraine was to use the weapons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Attacks escalate MOSCOW A Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea Saturday blew up an ammunition depot, sparking evacuations on the Moscow-annexed peninsula and halting rail traffic, just five days after drones damaged Russia\u2019s symbolic bridge across the Kerch Strait. Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, has been targeted by Kyiv throughout Moscow\u2019s 17-month long Ukraine offensive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344812,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-344780","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n