Drone Strike Damages Another Russian Radar Station in Occupied Crimea

Drones attacked a Russian military unit in occupied Crimea early on July 15, according to a report by the Krymsky Veter Telegram channel.

The post says the attack targeted a Russian military unit near Cape Fiolent on the peninsula, believed to host an S-400/S-300 anti-missile system operated by a battalion from the 12th Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment (military unit 85702).

A total of eight explosions were recorded. A nearby radar station was reportedly damaged, and there was at least one explosion on the S-400 position.

The S-400 is a Russian anti-aircraft missile system designed to defend against air, ballistic missile, cruise missile, and drone attacks at long and medium distances. Introduced in 2007, it can hit targets up to 400 kilometers away, using associated radars to detect, coordinate, and track targets.

The military unit has been sited among summer cottage cooperatives, causing drone wreckage to fall on nearby civilian buildings.

The Krym.Realii publication reported that Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, claimed that a drone was shot down in the Cape Fiolent area.

“According to the Rescue Service of Sevastopol, debris fell in the Fiolent area on the territory of one private house,” Razvozhaev said.

A ballistic threat was also announced in Sevastopol.

Cape Fiolent was previously attacked on July 1. A Russian military storage facility ,said to contain ammunition or Shahed-type drones, was reportedly hit.

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German Opposition Supports Combat Aircraft Deliveries to Ukraine

The leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) said Berlin should help Ukraine “restore sovereignty over its own airspace” by transferring combat aircraft, which is easier said than done.

Ukraine has intensified its attacks on Russian territory this year, targeting energy sites it claims support Russia’s military, as well as towns and villages close to the border.

Moscow’s defense ministry said on Monday it had downed 22 Ukrainian drones overnight over the west of Russia and Crimea,.

“Over the past night... air defense systems on duty destroyed and intercepted 22 UAVs,” the statement read.

The report says 15 drones were shot down over the Russian border region of Bryansk, six over Crimea, and one over Lipetsk. Additionally, the governor of Kursk reported three more Ukrainian drones had been downed in his region.

The Atesh partisan movement reported that it recorded the positioning of a Tor-M2 short-range surface-to-air missile defense system above a popular local beach in Russian-occupied Sevastopol.

Earlier, Russian milbloggers criticized the Russian Defense Ministry and Crimean occupation authorities for placing military targets near civilian areas in Crimea, which the US-based Institute for the Study of War assessed as being an effort to deter Ukrainian strikes.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on June 23 that Ukraine launched a five missile ATACMS attack on Sevastopol and that it had intercepted four of them. The fifth, allegedly containing cluster munitions, apparently detonated over a beach at the nearby Uchuivka Park causing a number of casualties. Moscow blamed the US for the civilian casualties not only because ATACMS is a US-provided system but also providing targeting information to Ukraine. It is highly probable that a Russian air defense interceptor caused detonation of the M-39 missile.

Pro-Kremlin milbloggers subsequently criticized the occupation authorities for failing to detect the incoming missiles, to use air raid sirens to warn civilians of the attack, and to build air raid shelters close to areas used by tourists.