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What the Sevastopol headquarters strike signalled
Summary
A missile attack on the Black Sea Fleet's command building in Crimea came a day after Russian strikes hit civilians across Ukraine.
What did it mean when the Black Sea Fleet's headquarters in Sevastopol came under missile attack on 22 September 2023? As reported at the time, the strike hit the Russian fleet's command building in Crimea, killing at least one person and starting a fire in the building.
The background to the attack is more specific. The headquarters was struck by Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles launched by Su-24 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force, and the building was partially destroyed. Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), later referred to the operation as Operation Crab Trap.
A contrast in targets
The strike came a day after Russian missile attacks across Ukraine on 21 September 2023. At least two civilians were killed and 21 others injured in those strikes.
The two events show the war's pattern on those dates. Russian missiles hit targets across Ukraine, with civilian casualties. Ukraine, for its part, struck the command centre of the fleet based in occupied Crimea.
What it showed
The use of Western-supplied long-range cruise missiles against a headquarters building showed Ukrainian forces able to reach a senior naval command in Sevastopol. The fire and the partial destruction of the building made the damage visible. The attack was part of the wider war that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
