The Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the information about the shelling of the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation in Sevastopol by the Ukrainian army is a propaganda fiction.
“In fact, the enemy did not dare to celebrate the day of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation, and in order not to disgrace himself before the whole world, fearing the Armed Forces of Ukraine, he came up with a reason to cancel the events on the occasion of the so-called holiday. With such statements, the enemy recognizes his air defense as incapable, and casts even greater doubt on the existence of the Crimean bridge, ”the press service of the Ukrainian Navy said in a statement.
The day before, the press service of the Black Sea Fleet reported that “a low-power explosive device mounted on a makeshift drone” went off on the territory of the headquarters, and assistance had already been provided to those injured from broken glass fragments.
Senator from Crimea Olga Kovitidi noted that the drone was launched inside the city.
The headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet is located in Sevastopol in the very center of the city on Voronin Street. Within walking distance from it are: the building of the city government, the legislature, the FSB, the prosecutor's office, three courts, the House of Officers, the House of Moscow, the main tourist sites and St. Vladimir's Cathedral.
On July 30, it was reported that in Sevastopol, Navy Day would be celebrated in an abbreviated format - protocol celebrations without the parade formation of ships and the traditional performance:
“Most of the events this year are held at the Grafskaya Pier. This is a solemn meeting of the commander, who will take part in the bypass of the ships, and the assignment of the name of Andrey Paliy to the boat. At the same time, there will be no parade formation of ships, all events on Grafskaya will be of a protocol nature. We invite the people of Sevastopol to the festive fireworks in the evening.”
In past years, the cruiser Moskva, which was destroyed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on April 14, was an invariable participant in the parade.