Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 10, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

i24 News – Moscow-installed authorities on the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula said Ukraine had attempted a drone attack on Saturday.

The attack caused the “detonation” of an ammunition depot, leading to the evacuation of people living within three milers of the attack. Rail operations and traffic on the bridge linking the peninsula to mainland Russia was also halted.

“As a result of an enemy drone on the Krasnogvardeisky district, there was a detonation at an ammunition depot,” wrote Sergei Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed leader of the Crimea, on Telegram.

Aksyonov also said train traffic will be stopped on the peninsula “to minimize risks.” Authorities later said that two trains going from Moscow to Crimea’s main city of Simferopol and one in the opposite direction had been stopped.

Crimea, annexed in 2014, has come under increasing attack in recent weeks as part of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, with Kyiv determined to reclaim the peninsula, as well as other areas illegally annexed by Russia.

Speaking remotely to the Aspen Security Forum on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russia-built Kerch bridge represented a legitimate target that had to be “neutralized.”

He said the 12-mile bridge, inaugurated by President Vladimir Putin in 2018, “supplies ammunition to the Crimean peninsula,” and that Kyiv considered it an “enemy object” built in violation of international law.

“The Crimean Bridge is not just a logistical road,” Zelensky said. “This is the route used to feed the war with ammunition … and it militarizes the Crimean peninsula.”

The Crimean, or Kerch, bridge was attacked on Monday, leaving two civilians dead. A Ukrainian security official later claimed Kyiv’s responsibility for the attack.