(Reuters) – The Russian-installed governor of the Crimean city of Sevastopol said on Saturday that air defences had shot down a drone in what he suggested was the latest attempted Ukrainian attack on a port where Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is based.
Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Russian-backed governor of the city, made the allegation on the Telegram messaging service, alleging that the incident had occurred in the early hours of Jan. 7, which is Orthodox Christmas.
There was no immediate comment on the allegation from Ukraine, which has not in the past confirmed similar alleged incidents.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had proposed a truce to coincide with Orthodox Christmas, an offer rejected by Kyiv as a cynical ruse to buy time for Russia’s forces to rest and regroup.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
