• A Russian official said Ukraine carried out drone attack on its Black Sea fleet headquarters in Sevastopol.
  • The official claimed that the attack injured 6 people, and led to Navy Day celebrations being cancelled.
  • Ukraine has denied responsibility for the attack.

Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out a drone attack against its Black Sea fleet headquarters in Crimea, leading to canceled Navy Day celebrations. 

Mikhail Razvozhayev, governor of Sevastopol, the largest city in Russian-occupied Crimea, reported the incident on Telegram.

"An unidentified object flew into the courtyard of the Fleet Headquarters, according to preliminary data, it is a drone," Razvozhayev wrote.

The governor said six people had been wounded and that all planned festivities had been canceled due to "safety concerns."

"[Ukraine] decided to ruin Navy Day for us," he wrote.

The Odesa Military Administration's spokesperson Serhii Bratchuk denied that Ukraine was behind the attack, according to the Ukrainian outlet Euromaidan Press.

"The report on an alleged Ukrainian attack on the Black Sea Fleet HQ in Sevastopol is a blatant false flag attack. The liberation of our Crimea from the occupiers will go differently & much more effectively. Everything has its time," he reportedly said, according to the outlet.

Without confirming whether Ukraine was behind the Sevastopol attack, a spokesperson for Ukraine's southern command, Natalia Gumenyuk, told The Guardian that Ukraine was targeting Russian military facilities inside Ukraine to "liberate our occupied territories."

"Our targets are exclusively the military facilities of the Russian Federation. We do not strike on the territory of the Russian Federation. Crimea is Ukraine," she said.

The Sevastopol governor posted several images of the scene of the alleged attack, which showed a building entrance with blood smeared on the steps along with fragments of broken glass.

Ukraine has recently conducted several attacks on Russia's Black Sea fleet in recent months.

Previously, Ukraine has claimed responsibility for sinking the Russian warship Moskva and reportedly launched missile strikes against three gas platforms in the Black Sea that Russia had converted into "small garrisons."

Navy Day is an annual national holiday in Russia to honor its Navy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin led Navy Day celebrations in St. Petersburg, attending a parade and giving a short speech, Reuters reported. 

He also signed a new 55-page naval doctrine outlining Russia's naval ambitions. The Russian president said the main threat to Russia is "the strategic policy of the USA to dominate the world's oceans," per Reuters.

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