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On the morning of October 29th, the city of Sevastopol in Crimea was subjected to a major attack by enemy drones. This was the largest attack by a swarm of drones on a Russian city since the beginning of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. In total 9 UAVs and 7 British unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) targeted the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and civilian vessels. The operation was coordinated by the US-made RQ-4B Global Hawk reconnaissance UAV, which has been circling over the neutral waters over the Black Sea near Crimea for several hours. The warships of the Black Sea Fleet and air defense systems in Sevastopol managed to destroy all the of the targets. According to local reports, the hull of the minesweeper Ivan Golubets was pierced, but the ship stayed afloat; and the frigate Admiral Makarov received some minor shrapnel damage to its hull and its radar system was disabled. The ships of the Black Sea Fleet that were subjected to the attack are involved in ensuring the security of the “grain corridor” within the international initiative for the export of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports. Specialists of the Russian Ministry of Defense picked up the wreckage of marine drones and conducted an examination. The analysis of the navigation modules allowed for the establishing that the USVs were heading from Odessa through the “grain corridor” towards the coast of Crimea. The track of one of them began from the security zone of the “grain corridor”, which may indicate that it was launched from a civilian cargo ship. As a result of the military provocation, Russia suspended its participation in the “grain deal”. The Russian Navy is likely to resume military operations and once again block Ukrainian shipping in the Black Sea. A few hours after the attack, Russia identified the culprits. British specialists located in Ochakov in the Mykolaiv region coordinated the preparation of the attack and trained Ukrainian servicemen of the 73rd Special Center for Naval Operations. On October 30, the Ukrainian training center in Ochakov, where the attack on Sevastopol was coordinated from, was hit by Russian missiles. The Ukrainian Emergency Services reported two fires in in the town after Russian missile strike, but as usual it was silent about damage to its military facilities. According to various sources, warehouses, headquarters buildings and barracks with personnel were destroyed. Attacks by Russian missiles and drones on military and energy infrastructure facilities continue. On the morning of October 31, the Ukrainian authorities confirmed damage to energy infrastructure facilities in the Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Cherkasy, Kharkiv and Zaporozhye regions. Part of the railway lines in Ukraine remain without power. There are also the largest losses of energy supply throughout the country since the beginning of the Russian military operation.
