Ukraine Strikes Russian-Occupied Crimea, Triggering Power Cuts in Sevastopol

Crimea power cuts

Ukrainian strikes on Russian-occupied Crimea triggered power outages in Sevastopol, with Mikhail Razvozhayev urging residents to reserve phones for emergency communication and warning that some areas would be without power until at least Wednesday evening. Razvozhayev said, “The enemy is once again striking treacherously, attempting to deprive us of normal living conditions and sow panic,” as trolleybuses in Sevastopol would not operate on Wednesday and parents were told to keep children at home. In parallel, the Moscow-installed governor Vladimir Saldo said Russian-held parts of Ukraine’s nearby Kherson region were partially or fully cut off from power, while separate Ukrainian drone attacks killed two people in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region and one in Belgorod.

Kyiv’s air force said Russian forces launched 101 drones at Ukraine overnight, of which 95 were destroyed, and Russia’s defence ministry said it destroyed more than 300 drones from Ukraine overnight. Ukraine’s campaign also targeted Crimea’s power and logistics, with Kyiv saying it struck a railway bridge, a power plant and other key infrastructure targets in neighboring Crimea.

Al Jazeera

SourcesAl Jazeera

Orenburg gas and satellites

Ukraine’s General Staff said Ukrainian forces struck the Orenburg Gas Processing Plant and two key satellite communications centers in their latest nighttime attacks on Russia, as Kyiv’s aerial campaign targeted energy facilities and military industries.

The AP reported that the operation hit the Orenburg Gas Processing Plant, which is part of a complex that also houses the only helium plant in Russia, and that the attack set the complex on fire.

Associated Press

In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow ordered the redeployment of some air defense systems from Russian regions to the capital and to Crimea’s Kerch Bridge, which the AP described as a crucial link for supplying Russian troops.

Zelenskyy said on X, “It is important that as many Russians as possible come to understand that it is the Russian leadership’s rejection of diplomacy that is prolonging the war,” while AP said Zelenskyy accepted an unconditional ceasefire demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin refused.

The General Staff said one satellite communications center was the Dubna Space Communications Center near Moscow, described as Russia’s largest ground-based satellite communications complex, and the other was in the Vladimir region east of the capital.

SourcesAssociated Press

Evacuations and injuries

In northern Ukraine, military officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for communities and settlements in the Chernihiv region bordering Belarus starting July 1, according to Viacheslav Chaus, the head of regional military administration, in a statement on his Telegram channel.

The AP also said the overnight attack hit Orenburg, more than 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) behind the front line in eastern and southern Ukraine, while Russian forces shot down 323 Ukrainian drones overnight, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry.

AP reported that two staff members of Norwegian People’s Aid were killed during a Russian attack in Ukraine, and that Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the southern Kherson region’s military administration, said four other workers with the organization were injured, two critically.

In Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, regional Gov. Gleb Nikitin said a Ukrainian drone strike killed two people and in Belgorod a Ukrainian drone strike killed one person overnight, as the AP described the attacks reaching hundreds of kilometres from the front line.

The Al Jazeera report added that a Russian drone attack killed a 56-year-old woman in the Ukrainian border region of Kharkiv, while Kyiv said Russian forces launched 101 drones at Ukraine overnight and destroyed 95.

SourcesAssociated PressAl Jazeera