Ukraine drone attack in Crimea prompts mass evacuation, brief bridge closure

A Ukrainian drone attack at infrastructure facilities in Crimea has sparked mass evacuations and briefly suspended road traffic on the bridge linking the peninsula to Russia, according to the regional governor of Crime.

Sergei Aksyonov said on Saturday that there was an explosion at the depot in Krasnogvardeisky in central Crimea but reported no damage or casualties.

"As a result of an attack by an enemy drone on the Krasnogvardeisky district, an ammunition depot detonated," he said. “Ministry of Emergency Situations employees are currently at the scene for elimination of potential aftermath."

He ordered the evacuation of people living within five kilometers of the zone, without saying how many residents would be moved. 

"To minimize risks, it was also decided to halt rail traffic on Crimean railways," Aksyonov wrote on Telegram.

The attack halted traffic on the Crimean Bridge — one of the few ways to get out of Crimea as flights have been cancelled during the conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted on Friday that the bridge has been a legitimate target for Ukrainian forces.

"This is the route used to feed the war with ammunition and this is being done on a daily basis," he said.

He said Kiev considers the Crimea bridge as an "enemy object" and wants it to be "neutralized.”

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Saturday's attack comes on the heels of a separate Ukrainian raid on Crimea on Wednesday, which killed a teenage girl and damaged several administrative buildings.

Crimea has repeatedly been targeted by Ukrainian drone attacks since Moscow launched its military operation against Kiev in February last year.

Russia said Kiev had even used notorious cluster munitions on the Russian border village of Zhuravlevka.

Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said "three cluster munitions from a multiple rocket launcher were fired (by the Ukrainian army) at the village of Zhuravlevka" on Friday.

Crimean peninsula voted overwhelmingly in favor of joining Russia in a referendum held in 2014.

Most of the Ukrainian attacks against Russia are reportedly carried out by Western-supplied ammunition.

US President Joe Biden said earlier this month that he had made a "very difficult decision" in providing Kiev with cluster bombs, which are banned in many countries across the world.  

Biden faced fierce criticism even from his own allies for sending lethal weapons -- that can have long-term risks to civilians.

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