Crimea

For years, the United States has insisted that Crimea is still part of Ukraine. Yet the Biden administration has held to a hard line since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, refusing to provide Kyiv with the weapons it needs to target the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia has been using as a base for launching devastating strikes.

Moscow would like, he says, for today's wave of missile attacks to be seen as punishment for the Ukrainian drone attack on Russian military targets in Crimea, which took place on Saturday.
The Kremlin wants this to be taken as a warning: You dare attack us in Crimea? Here's what you can expect in response.

The Russian army accused Ukraine of a "massive" drone attack on its Black Sea Fleet in Crimea on Oct. 29, claiming the UK helped in the strike that damaged a ship.

Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

The Russian Navy prevented a drone attack near Sevastopol

Russian naval forces have prevented a drone attack near Sevastopol on the annexed Crimean peninsula, reports Russian-appointed governor Mikhail Razvozhaev.

"Everything is clear with Kherson. The Russians are bringing in reserves, strengthening their grouping there. This means that they are not planning to retreat. On the contrary, the hardest battle will be fought for Kherson," Arestoych said yesterday in a video posted on the Telegram social network.

The White House said Thursday that Iranian troops are "directly engaged on the ground" in Crimea supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraine's power stations and other key infrastructure, claiming it has troubling evidence of Tehran's deepening role assisting Russia as it exacts suffering on Ukrainian civilians just as the cold weather sets in.

In a sign that continuing and sustained Ukrainian military gains along the southern front are worrying the Kremlin, Russia is promising free accommodation to residents of the partially occupied Kherson region who want to evacuate to Russia.

"Russia's deliberate attacks on the entire territory of Ukraine and against civilians are a profound change in the nature of this war," Macron said yesterday during a visit to Mayen, in northwestern France.
The Elyse Palace confirmed that a meeting was held with military and diplomatic advisers.

The State Agency "National Security" (SANS) has started an investigation on the basis of the spread information that the truck that caused an explosion on the Crimean bridge on October 8 passed through the territory of Bulgaria.

The investigation began immediately after the disclosure of the information, by order of Acting Prime Minister Galab Donev.

A spokesman for the European Commission said today that there could be no credence in claims by Russian investigative services that the truck that allegedly blew up on Saturday on the Kerch (Crimea) bridge had left Bulgaria and passed through Georgia, Armenia and North Ossetia before arriving in the Krasnodar region (Russia).