In the early hours of June 21, a series of drone attacks, attributed to Ukrainian forces, struck the ferry “Panagia” at the Kerch Strait, leading to one fatality and one injury. The operational headquarters of the Krasnodar region announced that ferry services across the strait have been suspended, advising truck drivers to reroute via the R-280 highway, which passes through Rostov-on-Don, Taganrog, and the occupied Ukrainian cities of Mariupol, Melitopol, and Simferopol.
The drone strikes also ignited a fire at an oil terminal in Chushka, located in the Temryuk district of Krasnodar. Debris from the drones fell in two additional areas, causing damage to residential buildings in the Fastivskaya stanitsa of the Tikhoretsk district and the Uspenskaya stanitsa in the Beloglinsk district, although no injuries were reported from these incidents.
Furthermore, the drones targeted the Kerch Peninsula in eastern Crimea, with reports from Sergey Aksyonov, the head of the occupation authority, indicating that four individuals were killed and 28 others injured. No further details were provided regarding the circumstances of these casualties.
Ukrainian Telegram channels have reported that the attacks also impacted the Caucasus port on the Russian side and the maritime port in Kerch. Monitoring channels noted that the distance from the fire site in Kerch to the Kerch Bridge is less than one kilometer. The Telegram channel Astra, which analyzed photographs from the scene, indicated that a multi-story residential building in Kerch sustained damage following the attacks.
As of now, Ukrainian military officials have not commented on these incidents. Since 2022, the Crimean Peninsula has been subjected to near-daily drone and missile strikes, although the Russian Ministry of Defense and local authorities often do not confirm hits on military targets, even when such information can be verified.
Recent drone attacks in the Kerch Strait have resulted in casualties and significant infrastructure damage, including the suspension of ferry services. The ongoing conflict has seen a rise in such incidents since 2022, with both military and civilian targets affected.