Ukrainian Naval Forces conducted a strike against a Russian Black Sea Fleet communication facility in occupied Crimea during the early hours of 11 September, according to an official Navy statement.
The Russian Black Sea Fleet represents a major naval force historically stationed in Sevastopol, comprising warships, support vessels, and auxiliary craft that project Russian power across the Black Sea region and support military operations in Ukraine. Ukraine systematically targets this fleet to reduce Russian naval capabilities, limit Moscow’s ability to conduct military and logistical operations at sea, and disrupt electronic warfare systems.
The operation targeted the 184th Research Experimental Base in Sevastopol, which housed a communication node responsible for coordinating Black Sea Fleet operations, the Navy reported. The facility served as a command and control center for Russian naval units operating in the region.
The military statement confirmed the strike occurred “on the night of September 11th” but did not disclose specific details about the extent of damage caused by the attack.
The targeted installation is situated in Kozacha Bay, according to the monitoring group “Crimean Wind,” which tracks military activities in the peninsula.
In April 2022, Ukraine sank Russia’s flagship missile cruiser Moskva using Neptune anti-ship missiles and recently, drone strikes disabled a Russian MPSV07 vessel near Novorossiysk, damaging electronic reconnaissance capabilities.
Ukrainian forces struck and damaged another ship supporting Russia’s war effort on the Black Sea on Thursday night.
Another ship strike isn’t remarkable. In the 43 months since Russia widened its war on Ukraine, the Ukrainians have sunk or damaged roughly a third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s three dozen warships. Most notably, the cruiser Moskva, holed by two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles way back in April 2022.
What’s notable about the Thursday strike on the Project MPSV07 rescue and salvage ship was how and where Ukrainian operators hit it. The 73-m salvage ship, operated by Russia’s auxiliary rescue agency, was patrolling just outside the port of Novorossiysk, in southern Russia, 400 km from the front line.
A Ukrainian drone struck the Russian ship outside Novorossiysk
Rather than send a squadron of comparatively slow drone boats or expend a precious cruise missile that might cost $1 million or more, the Ukrainian military intelligence service, the HUR, flew a fixed-wing attack drone at very low altitude all the way to Novorossiysk, and struck the Project MPSV07’s bridge area, where many of the most delicate electronics are.
The hit on the Project MPSV07 had the effect of “destroying its electronic warfare systems and forcing it out of action,” the Ukrainian strategic communications service announced.
The raid came just two weeks after a Ukrainian drone team scored a hit on a Black Sea Fleet missile corvette in a similar way—by maneuvering an attack drone at wave-top height and striking the corvette’s topside electronics.
Blowing up topside radar masts and satellite receivers with a small drone might not sink a ship, but it can inflict a lot of difficult-to-repair damage—and at low cost and risk to the attacker. Even the priciest attack drones cost just $200,000; most are in the range of five figures.
It’s worth noting that the Project MPSV07 is an ice-hardened vessel, with a reinforced hull for sailing through icy northern waters. All that extra steel makes a Project MPSV07 a harder target than, say, a thinner-hulled missile corvette.
In that context, the attack on the vessel’s electronics makes even more sense. The Ukrainians hit the ship where it’s most vulnerable.
Special forces of the Ukraine's Military Intelligence (HUR) struck a Russian Black Sea Fleet ship near Novorossiysk.
A Ukrainian-made combat drone hit the command post area of a $60 million Project MPSV07 vessel, destroying its electronic warfare systems and forcing it out of… pic.twitter.com/6FWOvotBmX
The virtuosic raid didn’t come together overnight. Until recently, the waters around Russian-occupied Crimea were protected by one of the densest air-defense networks in the world: dozens of Russian radars, mobile guns, surface-to-air missile vehicles, and batteries, including long-range S-300 and S-400 SAM sites.
But relentless Ukrainian drone strikes have steadily dismantled those air defenses, effectively clearing the air over Crimea and lending the drone operators greater freedom.
Moreover, Ukraine’s Starlink satellite terminals, which most of its drones rely on for control and communication, work just fine over Crimea. They generally don’t work over Russia proper—likely a deliberate choice by Starlink founder Elon Musk.
Bayraktar is back—and it’s all over Crimea
That the airspace over and around Crimea is becoming more favorable to Ukraine is evident—and not only in the Thursday hit on that Russian salvage ship. Ukraine’s Turkish-made Bayraktar TB-2 drones are now very active over Crimea, flinging tiny precision missiles at Russian boats and other equipment.
Explore further
Ukraine just brought back its Bayraktar TB-2 drones—and they’re breaking through Russia’s air defenses
Ukraine’s 60 or so TB-2 led Ukraine’s initial drone counterattack in the first weeks of Russia’s wider invasion in early 2022. However, the big, expensive TB-2—it weighs nearly 700 kg and costs millions of dollars—eventually lost relevance.
TB-2s were big, fat, and hard to replace. Smaller, better, and cheaper drones—many of them made in Ukraine—soon displaced the surviving TB-2s.
That some TB-2s are back in action over Crimea speaks to the insatiable demand for drones as Russia’s wider war grinds into its 43rd month. But it also points to yawning gaps in Russia’s air defenses.
The TB-2s were vulnerable three years ago. They’re even more vulnerable now, but only when the Russians can deploy their best air defenses.
It’s clear that, over southern waters, the Russians can’t deploy their best air defenses. At least, not without them swiftly coming under attack by the very drones they’re supposed to defeat.
Explore further
Spasatel Ilyin was the Russian ship hit near Novorossiysk by aerial drone—captain injured, ship disabled
Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports that Russian state media has acknowledged growing fuel shortages across the country. Meanwhile, Russian officials are downplaying Ukraine’s deep strike campaign role in creating the crisis.
Ukrainian forces continue their campaign to degrade Russia’s ability to wage war by striking infrastructure deep inside Russian territory, with recent attacks focusing on oil refineries and other fuel facilities. Recent damage to several oil processing facilities has already caused fuel shortages in several Russian regions.
Widespread shortages across Russian regions
ISW says Russian Independent Fuel Union told state newspaper Izvestiya on 10 September 2025 that over 10 federal subjects experience fuel shortages. Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, and Rostov oblasts face supply disruptions. Far Eastern regions and occupied Crimea also struggle with fuel availability.
State Duma Anti-Monopoly Committee Expert Council member Dmitry Tortev told Izvestiya that local fuel shortages are becoming widespread. Many gas stations haven’t received refinery deliveries for several weeks. Some stations have shut down completely.
Officials blame seasonal demands
ISW noted:
“Russian officials downplayed the impact of Ukraine’s strike campaign, attributing the fuel shortages to peak vacation season and agricultural demands in August and September 2025.”
ISW continues assessing that Ukraine’s deep strike campaign impacts Russia’s domestic gasoline market. The strikes exacerbate shortages and cause price spikes that will likely push inflation upward. ISW notes that Russian state media openly discussing gasoline shortages suggests the issue is penetrating mainstream Russian society.
Ukraine’s new Flamingo cruise missile appears to include older, cheaper and easy-to-acquire components. Leftover Soviet-made free-fall bombs as warheads. And, for propulsion, a simple jet engine borrowed from a military training plane.
The inclusion of off-the-shelf components that are readily available from manufacturers in Ukraine or allied countries is good news as the Flamingo’s builder, Fire Point, aims to ramp up production to as many as seven missiles a day by next month.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about the Flamingo, including its cost. Fire Point is under official investigation in Kyiv for possibly inflating the missile’s capability and price.
Regardless of the outcome of that probe, photos and videos of the massive, seven-ton missile hint at a reliable and affordable design. A close look at the fiberglass missile’s nose seems to indicate the warhead is actually two warheads: a pair of repurposed gravity bombs packed end to end.
The Flamingo seems to be based on the FP-5 missile design from U.K. firm Milanion. The firm claims the FP-5 ranges 3,000 km with a 1,000-kg payload. There isn’t a 1,000-kg Soviet-style gravity bomb in widespread use, according to missile expert Fabian Hoffmann. So “the payload could consist of two stacked FAB-500 unguided bombs,” each weighing 500 kg, Hoffmann wrote.
The evidence points to the FAB-500 M62, one of the most ubiquitous Soviet-era unguided dumb bombs. The Soviet air force left behind potentially thousands of the bombs when it left Ukraine in 1991. Many munitions companies continue to build new FAB-500s, including Bulcomers KS in Bulgaria.
Seems Flamingo's warhead is a modified FAB-1000 general purpose bomb. Ukraine likely has 10,000s leftover from Soviet aviation depots
It’s not for no reason that, when the Ukrainian air force recently developed a simple precision glide-bomb similar to the Russian UMPK, it used old FAB-500 M62s as the basis—and added pop-out wings and satellite guidance.
With end-to-end FAB-500s, a Flamingo should be able to strike with the equivalent of 550 kg of TNT, Hoffmann estimated. That “is substantially more than the long-range drones and mini-cruise missiles Ukraine currently employs.”
Satellite imagery from the aftermath of the first confirmed Flamingo raid, targeting a Russian intelligence and hovercraft base in occupied Crimea on Aug. 30, depicts a large crater and other damage that may confirm Hoffmann’s assessment.
The ramp-launched Flamingo depends on a simple rocket booster to get it off the ground—and, it seems, an Ivchenko AI-25TL turbofan engine to propel the giant missile as fast as 950 km/hr. The AI-25TL, which powers Aero L-39 jet trainers and other aircraft, produces 1,850 kg of thrust.
An L-39 weighs five tons, which is two tons less than a Flamingo weighs. But the L-39 must be maneuverable, where the Flamingo is expected to fly a simple course at steady speed under inertial and satellite guidance. The AI-25TL is more than adequate—and, more importantly, it’s in production in Ukraine with firm Motor Sich. It’s priced to move at around $40,000 per engine.
With a low-cost warhead and equally affordable engine, a Flamingo might cost less than $1 million. That’s quite low for a long-range heavy cruise missile. A Russian Kh-101 or American Tomahawk both cost several times as much.
The Flamingo could change the deep-strike math for Ukraine. The new missile “has so much range and such a big warhead that that’s one of the important ones that could really make a difference,” Finnish analyst Joni Askola said.
And if the missile really is as cheap as it appears to be, Fire Point may actually be able to ramp up production to seven missiles a day.
The Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense continues to demonstrate its strength, UNIAN reports. In temporarily occupied Crimea, several key Russian targets have been destroyed, including the RT-70 radio telescope, in a latest strike.
Impressive results from the Phantoms special unit
According to HUR and the Ukrainian Navy, in August, fighters from the special unit “Phantoms” struck:
the Utios-T radar system
the RT-70 radio telescope
the GLONASS satellite navigation system in its dome
the coastal radar station MR-10M1 “Mys” M1
the 96L6-AP radar of the S-400 missile system
“The radio telescope is truly unique. It was built during Soviet times to monitor satellite constellations. It is genuinely one-of-a-kind,”emphasizes Ukrainian Navy Spokesperson Captain 3rd Rank Dmytro Pletenchuk.
Strategy to thin out Russian air defenses
Pletenchuk noted that in Crimea, the enemy deployed a dense network of air defense systems to protect the Crimean Bridge and the peninsula’s military infrastructure. The layered air defense system also covers Novorossiysk, where the Black Sea Fleet’s missile carriers are based.
“Clearing a path to other Russian targets begins with the air defenses,” he stresses.
Disrupting Russia and destroying its key targets makes their restoration costly and difficult.
Impact on Russia’s defense capabilities
Destroying such targets significantly complicates the operation of Russian air defense, reducing its effectiveness against airstrikes, missile attacks, and drones. This is a strategic step in the demilitarization of temporarily occupied Crimea and in preparing for subsequent operations by Ukrainian forces.
Ukrainian intelligence forces have delivered a powerful strike against the occupiers’ military infrastructure in temporarily occupied Crimea. The special unit Phantoms destroyed several expensive Russian air-defense and radar systems, the agency reports.
Phantoms strike at Russia’s defenses
According to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate, the elite unit continues systematically dismantling Russia’s air-defense network. The Phantoms are tasked with precision strikes against radar complexes, logistics hubs, and enemy military infrastructure.
What has been destroyed?
Ukrainian forces knocked out unique Russian systems, including:
radar complex “Utyos-T”;
the giant radio telescope RT-70;
GLONASS satellite navigation system (Russia’s equivalent of GPS);
coastal radar MR-10M1 “Mys” M1;
96L6-AP radar from the S-400 air-defense system.
Consequences for the occupiers
The loss of these systems seriously complicates the work of Russian air defense on the peninsula. Without key radars and navigation, the occupiers are left far more vulnerable to strikes by Ukrainian missiles, aircraft, and drones.
“The demilitarization of temporarily occupied Crimea continues!” Ukraine’s military intelligence emphasizes.
Militarnyi reports that a Ukrainian drone strike on 30 August 2025 destroyed two Russian helicopter gunships at the airfield in occupied Crimea’s capital, Simferopol. Satellite imagery published by the AviaVector X account confirmed the destruction of a Mi-8 and a Mi-24 helicopter at the site.
Russia occupied Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and later used it as a springboard for the full-scale invasion of mainland Ukraine from the south in 2022. Today, Crimea plays a key role in supporting Russian military operations in southern Ukraine, and Kyiv regularly targets Moscow’s military assets across the peninsula.
Satellite confirms two helicopters destroyed in occupied Crimea
According to Militarnyi, the drone attack took place at approximately 06:30 on 30 August, when Russian monitoring channels began reporting the movement of drones toward Simferopol. Following the reports, a powerful explosion occurred at the airport, followed by thick black smoke.
AviaVector’s satellite imagery captured on the same day showed two attack helicopters destroyed as a result of the strike. An earlier image from 22 August showed a group of military aircraft stationed close together at the airfield. Specifically, the photo documented five Mi-8 helicopters, three Mi-24s, one An-26, and one Tu-134UBL. Militarnyi notes that all these aircraft were concentrated in a small area.
Initial claims after the explosion suggested that aviation fuel tanks had been hit, but this information was later proven false. The satellite images confirmed that the damage involved airframes, not fuel infrastructure.
Russian Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters among the destroyed aircraft
Mi-8 helicopters are currently in wide use by the Russian Armed Forces and are the main transport helicopter in Russian military service. The exact model of the Mi-8 destroyed in Simferopol is unknown. However, Mi-8 helicopters are used by Russian forces for troop transport, strike missions, air defense tasks, and operations against Ukrainian naval drones.
Prior confirmed case of drone-launched missile strike on Mi-8s
On 31 December 2024, Ukrainian forces destroyed two Mi-8 helicopters using R-73 air-to-air missiles launched from a sea-based drone. This was the first confirmed use of this method to eliminate an airborne target.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency HUR has released a video showing a night-time drone strike on a key Russian radar installation in occupied Crimea. The destroyed radar was part of the S-400 Triumf air defense system—Russia’s most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile complex designed to detect and shoot down aircraft, drones, and missiles at ranges up to 400 km.
This strike is part of an ongoing Ukrainian campaign to suppress Russian air defenses across occupied Crimea.
Ukrainian drone disables long-range Russian radar in Crimea
According to HUR, the operation took place in the early hours of 28 August and targeted a 91N6E radar complex—an essential component of the S-400 system responsible for long-range target detection. The strike was carried out by the Department of Active Operations of HUR. A short video released by the agency shows the drone approaching and striking the installation.
Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi reports that the radar’s antenna array—its most vulnerable part—was directly hit by an aircraft-type drone. The outlet notes the installation was likely disabled as a result. HUR mocked the loss, saying another “Triumf” of the occupiers had gone blind, calling it a “fiasco.”
Russia’s radar shield in Crimea is steadily crumbling
Earlier this month, the unit destroyed several radar stations belonging to the Russian 3rd Radio-Technical Regiment, based in the Ai-Petri mountain area on Crimea’s southern coast. Russia had attempted to protect these radar systems by hiding them under Soviet-era radio-transparent domes. However, Ukrainian drones still managed to hit the Nebo-SVU, Podlet K-1, and the rare 98L6 Yenisey radars.
The Yenisey radar is a next-generation system developed for use with the future S-500 missile platform.
Ukraine creates blind zones for deeper drone strikes
The goal of these strikes, according to Militarnyi, is to carve out “blind corridors” in Russian radar coverage over occupied territory. These gaps have allowed Ukrainian long-range drones to carry out additional raids.
In the past month, HUR and the SBU conductedattacks that damaged up to six Russian fighter jets at the Saky airfield. At Kirovske airbase, Ukrainian drones also hit Mi-8 and Mi-26 transport helicopters and a Mi-28 attack helicopter.
Russia has persecuted 122 people in “Hizb ut-Tahrir cases” since occupying Crimea in 2014, with 119 of them being indigenous Crimean Tatars, according to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center (CTRC).
“The Russian Federation unlawfully uses its legislation for political purposes, particularly to suppress the non-violent struggle of Crimean Tatars and their protest against the occupation of Crimea,” the CTRC stated.
Crimean Tatars are the peninsula’s indigenous Muslim population who faced mass deportation under Soviet rule in 1944.
The current cases involve charges related to Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamic organization banned in Russia since 2003 but legal in Ukraine and most other countries.
83 Crimean Tatars currently imprisoned in Russian prisons and colonies
According to the CTRC report, 83 people are serving sentences in Russian prisons and colonies, while 27 remain in pre-trial detention. Three are under house arrest, eight have been released with restrictions, and one person died in Russian custody.
The cases have left 252 children without fathers, according to the CTRC. Russian authorities have reportedly conducted 20 waves of arrests since the occupation began, with the most recent in February 2025 when five men were detained.
Russia bases cases on anonymous witnesses and FSB experts
“The accusations in these ‘cases’ are based on the testimony of ‘undisclosed witnesses’ and the conclusions of ‘experts’ who actively cooperate with the FSB,” the CTRC stated. Evidence typically includes Islamic literature found during searches, FSB operational data, and audio recordings of discussions on religious and political topics.
Russia banned Hizb ut-Tahrir in a closed court session in 2003 without providing evidence of terrorist activity, according to the CTRC, yet continues using this designation to prosecute Crimean residents. Sentences range up to 19 years in maximum security colonies.
Hizb ut-Tahrir operates legally in 58 countries despite Russian ban
Hizb ut-Tahrir operates legally in Ukraine and most other countries. The CTRC noted that “in its 75 years of existence, it has not organized a single terrorist attack or armed violence.”
The CTRC has called for the release of all defendants and urged international sanctions against those responsible for the prosecutions.
A Ukrainian political prisoner burst into tears after his return home after seven years in a Russian colony. Kostiantyn Davidenko finally set foot on Ukrainian soil on 24 August as part of the 68th prisoner exchange.
Serving such a long sentence is remarkable, as many prisoners die in Russian captivity within a year or two due to lack of medical care, torture with electric shocks, and the absence of adequate food.
Russia holds an estimated 8,000 Ukrainian soldiers in captivity. Additionally, around 60,000 Ukrainians are considered missing, many of whom may also be detained in Russian prisons.
Kostiantyn Davidenko, a political prisoner from Crimea. Screenshot
Long captivity and an unjust sentence
On 11 February 2018, the Russian FSB detained Davidenko in Simferopol. On 6 June 2019, the so-called “Supreme Court” of Crimea sentenced him to 10.5 years in a high-security colony, accusing him of spying for Ukraine, UkrInform reports.
Russian intelligence claimed he was allegedly gathering information on the activities of Russian National Guard units and FSB personnel.
A vital signal for other political prisoners
“This is an important signal for others who have lost hope and waited for years — you will come home,” Ihor Kotelyanets, head of the NGO Association of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners, emphasizes.
He adds that hundreds of Ukrainians imprisoned in Russia since 2014 still need to be rescued, including Hennadiy Lymeshko, Halyna Dovhopola, Valentyn Vyhivskyi, Volodymyr Yakymenko, Victor Shur, and the Abdullaiev brothers.
Davidenko’s words upon return
Stepping onto Ukrainian soil, Davidenko said, “Ukraine is bringing its people home. But many others, imprisoned in Russia since 2014, 2015, or 2016, are still there. They need to be here.”
This exchange is further proof that Ukraine is systematically working to return its citizens from captivity, including those unlawfully imprisoned before the all-out war.
Today, Ukraine marks its 34th Independence Day. But this isn’t 1991’s euphoric declaration of sovereignty, or even 2021’s military parades down Kyiv’s main boulevard. This is 24 August 2025 – Independence Day during the fourth year of Russia’s attempt to entirely erase Ukrainian statehood.
The holiday that once celebrated freedom now embodies the fight to keep it.
Leonid Kravchuk, first President of Ukraine, speaks at the Verkhovna Rada, Kyiv, 24 August 1991. Photo: Pshenychnyi Fund
When independence became survival
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, Ukrainian Independence Day has transformed from a ceremonial occasion into something far more urgent: proof that the country Putin said “doesn’t exist” refuses to disappear. In August 2022, Ukrainian media reported how Independence Day celebrations replaced traditional military parades with displays of destroyed Russian equipment, turning Kyiv’s Khreshchatyk street into a graveyard of Russia’s failed conquest.
The numbers tell the story of this transformation. Before 2022, just 37% of Ukrainians considered Independence Day personally important. By 2024, that figure had jumped to 64% – war crystallizing what freedom actually means when you risk losing it.
From USSR exit to democratic frontline
Ukraine’s independence story began modestly enough. On 16 July 1990, the Verkhovna Rada declared sovereignty within the Soviet Union by a vote of 355 to 4. It seemed like careful political maneuvering, not revolution.
Ukrainians celebrate sovereignty act on October Revolution Square (today’s Independence Square), where the Lenin monument once stood, Kyiv, 16 July 1991. Photo: Oleksandr Klymenko/ Ukrinform
But the failed Moscow coup of 19 August 1991 changed everything. Five days later, on 24 August, Ukraine’s parliament adopted the Act of Declaration of Independence, formally breaking with the USSR. The 1 December 1991 referendum wasn’t even close: over 92% of voters confirmed independence, with 84% turnout across the country.
Rally in Kyiv on 30 November 1991, on the eve of the referendum on Ukraine’s independence. Photo: Serhii Supinskyi
What started as bureaucratic independence became something much larger when Ukraine chose Europe over Russia’s sphere of influence.
The crowd throws opposition MP Levko Lukianenko into the air after the Verkhovna Rada adopts the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, Kyiv, 24 August 1991. Photo: Pavlo Pashchenko
The real test for independence came in 2013
Independence Day celebrations remained largely ceremonial with military parades until the Revolution of Dignity transformed Ukraine’s trajectory. When hundreds of thousands gathered on Kyiv’s Independence Square in late 2013, they weren’t just protesting President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to abandon EU integration – they were defending the right to choose their own future.
The revolution that killed nearly 100 protesters in February 2014 established a crucial principle: Ukrainian independence meant more than just having your own flag.
It meant the freedom to align with democratic values against authoritarian pressure.
Crimean Tatars join in the struggle for independence. Crimean leaders Refat Chubarev (center) and Mustafa Dzhemilev (right), March 1992. Both men are still active in today’s fight. Photo: Pshenychnyi Fund
Russia’s immediate response – seizing Crimea and launching war in Donbas – proved the point. Moscow couldn’t tolerate a neighboring democracy that offered an alternative to Putin’s totalitarian model.
Independence under fire
The full-scale invasion that began 24 February 2022 turned Independence Day into something unprecedented: a wartime celebration of national survival. Instead of showcasing Ukrainian military power, the holiday now demonstrates Ukrainian resilience.
Recent Independence Day observances have featured:
Displays of captured Russian equipment instead of military parades
International solidarity events in dozens of countries
Cultural programs highlighting Ukrainian identity under attack
Memorial services for defenders killed protecting sovereignty
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly framed the ongoing war as Ukraine’s second war of independence – the first won through voting, the second requiring fighting.
Rally before the opera house in Lviv on 25 August 1991. The poster reads: “Mother Ukraine. We are free!” Photo: Liubomyr Krysa
Why this matters beyond Ukraine
Ukraine’s evolving Independence Day reflects a broader global struggle between democratic self-determination and authoritarian imperial ambitions. What happens to Ukrainian sovereignty affects the international system that emerged after World War II.
Independence Day in Ukraine now serves multiple strategic purposes:
Diplomatic tool: Rallying international support around the principle of territorial integrity
Domestic unity: Strengthening national cohesion during an existential crisis
Information warfare: Countering Russian narratives about Ukrainian “artificial” statehood
Democratic symbol: Inspiring other nations facing authoritarian pressure
Act of Declaration of Ukraine. Photo: open source
The independence celebration that became resistance
On this 24 August 2025, Ukrainian Independence Day carries weight it never held during peacetime. Each year that the country survives Putin’s war of extermination, the holiday grows in significance – not just for Ukraine, but for anyone who believes smaller nations have the right to exist independent of their larger neighbors’ imperial ambitions.
The question isn’t whether Ukraine celebrates its 34th Independence Day. The question is what that celebration will mean for the future of national sovereignty in an era when major powers increasingly view international borders as random lines rather than laws.
Striletska Bay near Sevastopol, once a key base for Russian warships in occupied Crimea, is now nearly empty and used primarily for mooring tugboats and small patrol craft, the Atesh partisan group reported on July 8.
According to the group, Russia now uses the bay mainly for maintenance work and rare anti-sabotage defense drills, having pulled most major vessels from the area.
"Recently, the bay has been practically empty... The degradation of the occupation fleet in Sevastopol is becoming increasingly obvious. Striletska Bay, which previously housed a large number of combat vessels, is now idle." Atesh said.
The remaining combat units are periodically rotated and redeployed in an apparent effort to avoid detection by Ukrainian reconnaissance.
"Every object is under control — no ship will go unnoticed," Atesh said, adding that all ship movements are being tracked and shared with the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Sevastopol has served as the base for Russia's Black Sea Fleet since the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. Repeated Ukrainian attacks using naval drones, missiles, and long-range drones have forced the Kremlin to reduce its naval presence in occupied Crimea.
Ukraine has destroyed several Russian vessels, including the Caesar Kunikov landing ship, the Sergei Kotov patrol ship, the Ivanovets missile corvette, and multiple high-speed landing crafts.
The shrinking Russian presence in Sevastopol comes as Ukraine steps up drone attacks against other Black Sea Fleet locations. On July 6, drones struck the fleet's facilities in Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, a key port east of Crimea across the Kerch Strait.
Ukraine’s Oschadbank won an appeal against Russia on July 1 after the Paris appeals court rejected Moscow’s challenge to a 2018 arbitration ruling ordering compensation for losses due to Russia's annexation of Crimea, the bank announced in a press release on July 3.
The Paris Court of Appeal upheld the November 2018 arbitration tribunal decision requiring Russia to compensate Oschadbank for damages incurred when Moscow annexed the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014.
The ruling orders Russia to pay more than $1.5 billion in damages and an additional 300,000 euros ($330,000) in legal costs to Ukraine's largest state-owned bank, according to a press release.
"The victory proves that efforts to force the aggressor state to answer legally for damages caused by the occupation of part of Ukraine's territory have good prospects," said Rosa Tapanova, a member of Oschadbank's supervisory board.
Oschadbank Chairman Serhii Naumov said it's the first Ukrainian bank to win such a case against Russia.
The decision follows Oschadbank's recent seizure of over 87 million euros ($102 million) in Russian assets in France as part of its campaign to recover war-related losses. The bank has been pursuing Russian assets across multiple jurisdictions to enforce the arbitration award.
"We understand that the Russian Federation will never voluntarily comply with the court's decision, and we are prepared for a long struggle," said Arsen Miliutin, deputy chairman of Oschadbank's management board.
"At the same time, we are confident that we will win, and Russia will pay not only the amount of damages caused, but also interest for all this time."
The Oschadbank victory adds to a growing list of Ukrainian legal wins against Russia. On June 23, Naftogaz CEO Serhii Koretskyi announced that an international arbitration tribunal in Switzerland had ordered Russia's Gazprom to pay the Ukrainian state energy company $1.37 billion after the Russian firm stopped fulfilling contract obligations in May 2022.
Editor's note: The story was updated with comments made by Russia's Defense Ministry.
The Crimean Bridge was temporarily closed late on June 29 following reports of explosions and active air defense fire in the city of Kerch, according to local Telegram channels.
Witnesses reported hearing multiple blasts and observing Russian air defense systems in action. "Explosions heard in Kerch, Russian air defense is firing, and the lighting on the Crimean Bridge has been turned off," the Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported.
Ukraine has frequently targeted the Crimean Bridge over the course of the Russian full-scale invasion. Constructed after Russia's illegal occupation of Crimea in 2014, it is a critical supply and transport route for Russian forces to the occupied Ukrainian territories.
A map showing Russian control over Crimea and Ukrainian land on the Black Sea coast. (Nizar al-Rifai/The Kyiv Independent)
Traffic on the bridge was briefly halted, though it remains unclear whether the closure was precautionary or due to damage. Traffic reportedly resumed just over an hour later.
Russia's Defense Ministry said on June 30 that its air defense systems shot down five Ukrainian drones overnight over the Sea of Azov. It did not report any damage in Kerch or to the Crimean Bridge.
The incident follows a series of Ukrainian attacks on the Crimean Bridge. On June 3, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) confirmed it had carried out a third strike targeting the bridge, detonating 1,100 kilograms of explosives beneath its underwater supports.
"God loves the Trinity, and the SBU always brings what is conceived to the end and never repeats itself," SBU Chief Vasyl Malyuk said in a statement at the time. The operation, he added, had been planned over several months and caused "severe" damage to the bridge's foundations without harming civilians.
Russian media later claimed a Ukrainian intelligence agent involved in preparing the explosive had been detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB).
The bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, previously suffered damage in Ukrainian attacks in October 2022 and July 2023. Despite these strikes, Russia has worked to maintain the bridge's operational status due to its strategic and symbolic importance.
Editor's note: The previously published footage, provided by an SBU source, was allegedly related to a different operation and was deleted after the mistake was identified.
Drones operated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) struck the Kirovske military airfield in occupied Crimea overnight on June 28, the SBU told the Kyiv Independent.
The attack destroyed Mi-8, Mi-26 and Mi-28 attack helicopters, and a Pantsyr-S1 self-propelled anti-aircraft missile and gun system, the SBU claimed.
According to the SBU, Ukraine targeted Russian aviation, air defense systems, as well as ammunition, reconnaissance and attack drones storage facilities.
Secondary explosions were heard at the airfield during the night.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.
Earlier on June 27, Ukrainian drones struck four Su-34 fighter jets at the Marinovka airfield in Russia's Volgograd Oblast, according to the military.
Preliminary reports indicate that two Russian fighter jets were destroyed in the June 27 attack, and the other two were damaged. Russia uses the aircraft to bomb Ukraine.
Since the start of its full-scale war in February 2022, Russia has lost 420 airplanes and 337 helicopters, Ukraine's General Staff said in its latest update on June 28. The Kyiv Independent could not verify these figures.
Ukrainian drones struck air defense equipment in Russian-occupied Crimea, damaging radar units and components of the S-400 Triumph system, Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) claimed on June 26.
The drone strike was carried out by the agency's "Ghosts" unit, HUR said. Video footage of the operation published on HUR's official Telegram channel shows the trajectory of multiple drones as they approach and hit their targets.
The attack damaged "critical and expensive components" of Russia's S-400 Triumph air defense system, including two 92N2E multifunctional control radars, two 91N6E detection radars, and an S-400 launcher, according to HUR.
"Radars are the 'eyes' of the enemy's air defense system. Without them, anti-aircraft systems become combat ineffective," HUR wrote.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.
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Video footage of an alleged Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian S-400 air defense radar system in occupied Crimea, June 2025. (Ukraine's military intelligence agency / Telegram)
Earlier this month, the Atesh partisan group reported that a Ukrainian drone attack hit Russian military facilities near Simferopol. The group claimed on June 13 that Ukrainian drone attacks likely hit a Russian air defense system.
Ukraine has previously carried out successful attacks on S-400 radar systems in Crimea and other regions, including Russia's Belgorod Oblast. Kyiv regularly launches strikes on military and industrial targets in both Russia and Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.
Russia has illegally occupied Crimea since 2014, transforming the peninsula into a heavily militarized stronghold. Moscow uses the region to support its war in Ukraine, launching missiles from the Black Sea and exploiting the peninsula as a key logistics and transport hub.
The Kerch Airport in Crimea has also been repurposed from civilian to military use, with Moscow-backed proxies transferring part of the airport's land to the Russian Defense Ministry in spring 2025, according to an investigation by Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe.
Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Nizar al-Rifai/The Kyiv Independent)
A lion has attacked collaborator Oleg Zubkov at the Taigan Safari Park he founded in Russian-occupied Crimea, the Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported on June 22.
Zubkov is a businessman who renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and began cooperating with the Russian authorities following Moscow's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014
He also smuggled animals from zoos in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
During an evening feeding, Zubkov was attacked by a lion which tore his trachea, neck, and chest muscles with its claws. He managed to leave the lion's enclosure but then lost consciousness.
As a result of the attack, Zubkov lost a significant amount of blood and was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Simferopol, Crimea.
Zubkov regained consciousness on June 23 after surgery, and his condition is described as stable.
This is not the first time lions at the Taigan Safari Park have attacked its staff. In 2024, three lions killed Leokadia Perevalova while she was cleaning an enclosure. Perevalova had worked at the park for 17 years.
Ukrainian journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko was released on June 20 after more than four years of detention in Russian-occupied Crimea, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.
Yesypenko, a freelance contributor to Crimea.Realities, a regional project of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, reported on various issues in Crimea before being detained by Russia’s FSB in March 2021.
He was accused of espionage and possession of explosives, charges he denied, and later sentenced to five years in prison by a Russian-controlled court.
Yesypenko said he was tortured, including with electric shocks, to force a confession, and was denied access to independent lawyers for nearly a month after his arrest.
RFE/RL welcomed his release, thanking the U.S. and Ukrainian governments for their efforts. Yesypenko has since left Russian-occupied Crimea.
“Vlad was arbitrarily punished for a crime he didn’t commit… he paid too high a price for telling the truth about occupied Crimea,” said RFE/RL President Steven Kapus.
During his imprisonment, Yesypenko became a symbol of press freedom, receiving several prestigious awards, including the Free Media Award and PEN America’s Freedom to Write Award.
His case drew support from human rights groups, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, and international advocates for media freedom.
Russia invaded and unlawfully annexed Crimea in 2014, cracking down violently on any opposition to its regime.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin toughened its grip on dissent, passing laws in March 2022 that prohibit what authorities label as "false" criticism of Russia's war.
The lower house of the Dutch parliament on June 19 officially recognized the 1944 mass deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union as genocide, according to a statement from the parliamentary press service.
The motion cited precedent from other countries that have recognized the forced deportations as genocide, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, and Ukraine.
In the adopted text, Dutch lawmakers declared that the Soviet-led deportation of Crimean Tatars, which took place between May 18 and 21, 1944, constitutes genocide by contemporary legal and historical definitions.
The 1944 deportation was carried out under direct orders from Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who labeled the entire Crimean Tatar population as traitors following the peninsula's liberation from Nazi occupation.
Over 190,000 Tatars were forcibly removed from Crimea in a matter of days, though some estimates place the number closer to 430,000, and sent to remote areas in Central Asia, mainly Uzbekistan, in brutal conditions that led to mass deaths.
The document pointed to the ongoing repression of Crimean Tatars under Russian occupation since 2014. It said that "many Crimean Tatars have been unjustly imprisoned, subjected to torture by the Russian Federation, or forcibly disappeared," and added that "Russia has likely continued a policy of genocide against Crimean Tatars."
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed the decision, calling it "a powerful gesture of solidarity with the Crimean Tatar people, who are still facing persecution under Russia’s temporary occupation of the Ukrainian Crimea peninsula."
Sybiha noted that the Netherlands is now the seventh country to formally recognize the deportation as genocide and urged other nations to follow suit.
"Recognizing this historical injustice is critical not only for establishing truth and justice, but also for preventing future atrocities," the minister wrote.
Ukraine's parliament recognized the deportation as genocide in 2015 and established May 18 as the official Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatar People.
Explosions could be heard across Crimea early on June 13, including in Sevastopol and Simferopol, the Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported amid Russian claims of Ukrainian drone attacks.
Atesh partisans reported "precise hits" against Russian military facilities near Simferopol.
"Our agents report that due to the negligence of the (Russian) command, valuable equipment was damaged, probably an air defense missile system," the group said on Telegram.
"There are also losses among the troops," Atesh said, adding that the exact numbers are difficult to establish.
The pro-Ukrainian Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported a hit in Simferopol, Crimea's capital, sharing a photo of a plume of smoke rising in the vicinity of a local power station and of the village of Perevalne. Blasts in Yevpatoriia, Saki, Fedosia, and elsewhere were also reported.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses shot down 125 Ukrainian drones overnight on June 13, including 70 over Crimea and seven over the Black Sea. Russian officials did not comment on possible damage.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims. Ukraine has not commented on the alleged attacks.
Russia has illegally occupied Crimea since 2014, transforming the peninsula into a heavily militarized stronghold to support its war against Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted the peninsula with missiles and drones since the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022. Most recently, Ukrainian drones attacked an ammunition depot used by Russia's 126th Coastal Defense Brigade near the village of Perevalne.
Kerch Airport in occupied Crimea is being repurposed from civilian to military use, according to a June 12 investigation by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Schemes project, citing satellite imagery and Russian real estate registry data.
On March 4, 2025, the Russian-backed authorities officially transferred part of the airport's land to Russia's Defense Ministry for indefinite use, according to the investigation.
Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 after a discredited referendum under military occupation. Since then, the peninsula has become a heavily militarized zone.
Satellite images from the Planet Labs imaging company show ongoing construction at the site, including the installation of protective and camouflage structures around the runway.
The changes suggest the airport is being converted into a military facility capable of supporting drone operations or housing short-range air defense systems such as the Pantsir-S1 or Tor-M2, according to aviation expert Anatoly Khrapchinsky.
The new runway will be suitable for drone launches, Khrapchinsky noted.
Kerch Airport has not hosted regular commercial flights since 2007 and was previously used as a truck holding area for freight vehicles crossing the nearby ferry. That function was relocated in March 2025, officially as part of a "reorganization."
The city of Kerch, situated near the strategic Kerch Strait, lies just across from Russia's Krasnodar Krai and is home to the crucial Crimean Bridge, built after Russia's illegal annexation of the peninsula in 2014.
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