the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced that it shot down the Neptune missile

In the annexed Sevastopol on Thursday evening, a powerful explosion was heard, reported local Telegram channels and residents of the city, who published photos of the rising column of smoke on their social networks.

A little later, the Ministry of Defense of Russia announced that it had shot down an anti-ship missile “Neptune” allegedly launched by Ukrainian troops over the Black Sea area near Sevastopol.

Mikhail Razvozhaev, the head of annexed Sevastopol appointed by the Russian authorities, also said that the military “destroyed an aerial target over the sea.”

The Armed Forces periodically attack Sevastopol with missiles, in the waters of which the Russian Black Sea Fleet is based. A number of Ukrainian military personnel declare that the goal is the complete destruction of the fleet, or, at the very least, to force its command to redeploy ships from which cruise missiles are fired at the territory of Ukraine.

The greatest resonance was caused by the attack on the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol in September, as a result of which it received significant damage. Also, as a result of Ukrainian strikes, ships were damaged, air defense equipment was disabled, and ammunition depots were damaged.

At the same time, in most cases, the Ministry of Defense of Russia reported on the successful destruction of all missiles launched at Sevastopol, and in some cases, the agency even announced that exercises were being conducted.