UK media: New Ukrainian drone attack on airfield in Crimea kills 30

At least 30 people have reportedly died after a large-scale fire strike hit a Russian airfield in Saki, Crimea, the Ukrainian Security Service and Navy have said.

“Strikes hit the target and caused serious damage to the Russian equipment as well as a large loss of life,” Caliber.Az reports, citing Mirror.

Local residents reported the sounds of fire and Russia said it shot down a number of drones. It was not the only attack as the Russian defence ministry said Ukraine fired at least 19 "lethal" drones from September 20-21 over the Black Sea and the Crimean Peninsula, and three more over other bordering regions of Russia.

"The Ukrainian Armed Forces are massively trying to attack Crimea using drones. According to military officials, at least seven drones have been shot down in just the last 20 minutes. Residents of Evpatoria, Dzhankoy, Balaklava, Sevastopol, Saki, Novofedorovka and other cities report the sounds of air defence", said Baza, a prominent Telegram account related to Russia’s security services.

On September 20, Ukraine’s defence ministry made a rare triumphant video and confirmed its forces struck a Russian Black Sea fleet command post near Sevastopol in Crimea, a week after the major naval port was set ablaze in a cruise missile attack.

Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, said: "We can confirm that these were the actions of the Ukrainian security and defence forces against the occupiers’ military targets." Crimea has been targeted regularly since Russia launched full-scale hostilities in Ukraine last year, but Kyiv’s attacks have intensified in recent weeks. Last week, a British Storm Shadow missile strike damaged two Russian military naval vessels undergoing repairs in a shipyard in Sevastopol.

"In the night from September 20 to 21, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to commit a terrorist attack with lethal drones on sites in the Russian Federation was intercepted", the defence ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

It continued: "Air defence systems destroyed 19 Ukrainian UAVs over the Black Sea and the territory of the Republic of Crimea, and one each over the territories of Kursk, Belgorod and Oryol regions."

Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the Russia-appointed governor of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, asked all Crimeans to stay calm.

"If you hear the sounds of a drone flying by or air defence systems, move away from the windows … If you find the wreckage of a UAV shot down by air defence or landed by electronic warfare, please contact special services or hotlines," he said on Telegram.