Ukraine has launched a major new offensive against Russian military infrastructure in occupied Crimea, with Kyiv claiming its forces have struck warships, air defences and key logistics assets in a widening campaign designed to weaken Vladimir Putin’s ability to wage war.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said its drones hit Russian military targets at the Zaliv shipyard in occupied Kerch, including vessels linked to Moscow’s naval support operations.
The strikes reportedly caused major fires aboard the Project 15310 cable-laying ships Volga and Vyatka, along with the passenger and cargo ferry Petropavlovsk.
Kyiv said the vessels were being prepared for military use by Russia’s defence ministry, including missions involving underwater surveillance systems and the ability to deploy naval mines targeting critical infrastructure such as cables and pipelines.
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The SBU also claimed its drones struck a Russian S-400 air defence system and radar equipment protecting the strategic Kerch Strait area — a key route linking occupied Crimea with the Russian mainland.
The operation forms part of what Ukrainian officials described as a newly approved 40-day strike campaign, personally authorised by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The aim, according to Kyiv, is to degrade Crimea’s role as a military hub used by Russia to supply and coordinate operations against Ukraine.
Zelensky approved the operation after receiving a briefing on Ukraine’s long-range strike capabilities and battlefield results from the SBU’s special operations unit.
The campaign marks another escalation in Ukraine’s efforts to take the fight deeper behind Russian lines, targeting the infrastructure that supports Moscow’s invasion.
Recent attacks have increasingly focused on Russia’s energy sector, with Ukrainian drones hitting refineries and fuel facilities that provide revenue and logistical support for Putin’s war effort.
The strikes on Crimea are particularly significant because the peninsula has become one of Russia’s most important military bases since its annexation in 2014.
Ukraine argues that weakening Russian air defences and naval capabilities will open the door for more precise attacks against military targets.
The Kremlin has repeatedly insisted Crimea is secure and has dismissed Ukrainian strikes as attempts to destabilise Russian territory.
But the continuing attacks have exposed growing challenges for Moscow in protecting assets far from the front line.
For Putin, Crimea has long been presented as an untouchable symbol of Russian power.
Ukraine’s new campaign is designed to prove the opposite — that even the Kremlin’s most prized military stronghold remains within reach.
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