Kyiv: drone attack on oil depot in Russia-occupied Sevastopol is a preparation for Ukrainian counteroffensive
The fire at an oil depot in occupied Sevastopol is a preparation for a large-scale counteroffensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces of Ukraine, said head of the Joint Press Center of the Ukrainian Defense Forces South, Natalia Gumeniuk.
"We have already noticed that they [the Russian navy] are relocating to their bases near Novorossiysk, because in the bays of Sevastopol they do not feel safe and do not have that stable logistical support. The fact that the enemy's logistics have been undermined is one of the elements of preparation for powerful active actions of the Defense Forces, we have been saying this for a long time. And this work is a preparation ahead of the broad full-scale offensive that everyone expects. Therefore, the enemy feels that its resources have been undermined and begins to maneuver," Gumenyuk said.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an interview with Scandinavian journalists, said that the counteroffensive would not depend on arrival of F-16 fighter jets. "We will not delay, and we will start even before we have F-16s or anything else. To reassure Russia that we need a few months to train on these on aircraft, and only then we can start, no. He also once again spoke about retaking Crimea: "When we approach the administrative borders with Crimea, you will see how the Russians flee. Faster than from the Donbas."
The fuel tanks at the oil depot in the area of the Cossack Bay of Sevastopol caught fire on the night of April 29. The Russian authorities said that the fire started as a result of a drone attack, and in response called for air strikes on Odessa.