Amid fears of fresh Ukrainian air raids, Russia is bolstering defences of the illegally annexed Crimea Peninsula, Ukrainian media reported on Sunday, citing a local partisan movement Atesh.
According to the report, Atesh partisans have intercepted increased movement of Russia’s mobile firing units, equipment checks, ammo deliveries, and tighter security measures. The reconnaissance carried out by Atesh group in the Crimean city of Stavropol has revealed Russian army’s vulnerabilities around Balaklava Bay in the peninsula. In addition, Russians are turning buildings into military warehouses. However, the partisans did not give further details about Russia’s military activities.
The fresh military buildup suggest that Russia is preparing for another wave of Ukrainian drone attacks. Ukraine has scaled up missile and drone attacks on Russian-held territories as well as deep in Russia in recent months in an attempt to undermine Moscow’s war efforts. Russia this week faced a record high number of Ukrainian UAV attacks targeting military facilities in its territory.
Last week, on May 16, Atesh partisans reported strikes on the 12676th Russian military units’ 126th Separate Guards Coastal Defense Brigade and the 8th Separate Artillery Regiment near the settlement of Perevalne in southern Crimea. The group claimed several Russian soldiers on duty at the warehouse were killed during the attack. The same base had been attack in March and August in 2023. It should be noted that Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
