A drone attack on a ferry in southern Russia has killed at least one person and injured several others, a regional official reported, while traffic on a bridge over the Kerch Strait has been temporarily halted and the Crimean port of Sevastopol was also targeted, according to reports by local officials.
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The governor of Russia's southern Krasnodar region, Venyamin Kondratyev, said on Telegram that Ukrainian drones early on July 23 attacked a passenger ferry and set it on fire in the port of Kavkaz, close to the Kerch Strait that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov and separates Ukraine's Moscow-occupied Crimea region from Russia.
"Unfortunately, one person was killed and there are casualties among the crew members and port employees," Kondratyev wrote.
Ukraine, whose energy and civilian infrastructure has been devastated by continuous Russian drone and missile strikes that have caused numerous victims and serious damage, has in recent months started to increasingly target Russian industrial objectives and transport infrastructure.
In Crimea, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Kremlin-installed governor of Sevastopol, separately said the city was attacked by 15 drones and traffic was halted on the Kerch bridge built by Moscow after it occupied the Ukrainian region.
Ukraine has not commented and the Russian claims could not be independently confirmed immediately.
In Moscow, Russia's Defense Ministry said its air-defense systems shot down 25 Ukrainian drones over several of its regions early on July 23.
It said two drones were downed over the Bryansk region and two over the Belgorod region, while 21 drones were destroyed over Crimea and off the Black Sea coast.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said Russia overnight struck a critical infrastructure facility in the northeastern Sumy region, without giving details. No casualties were reported.
Ukraine's Air Force said in a message on Facebook that its air-defense systems shot down seven out of eight Russian drones that attacked Sumy and also neutralized a Kh-69 guided cruise missile.
"As a result of active countermeasures, the enemy's Kh-69 guided air missile did not reach its target," Air Force commander Mykola Oleschuk said.