The authorities installed by Moscow at the head of Crimea said on Monday evening that a missile attack on the Ukrainian peninsula, annexed in 2014, was ongoing, claiming that Russian air defense had shot down the missile, writes AFP.

“Our army repels the offensive on Crimea. According to preliminary information, anti-aircraft defense shot down a missile near Belbek airfield. The work is still ongoing,” Sevastopol Governor Mykhailo Razvytivaev reported on Telegram.

An hour later, the governor announced that the alarm had been lifted.

Ukrainian forces have launched a series of attacks on Russian positions in the Crimean peninsula since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, but these attacks have intensified in recent months as Kyiv receives Western weapons and seeks to reclaim all of its territory.

Ukraine announced a missile attack on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.

Russia admitted that only one serviceman was missing, but Ukrainian special forces said the attack killed 34 officers, including the commander of the Black Sea Fleet.

AFP is unable to verify these claims, and Moscow almost never reports its losses in Ukraine, even when high-ranking officials are involved.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Monday that its air defenses had neutralized seven Ukrainian drones over Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.

The local governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that there were no casualties as a result of the attack.