A holiday picture taken by a Russian tourist visiting a beach in occupied Crimea may have inadvertently given the location of Putin’s air defences away to Ukrainian forces, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry has claimed.
The swimsuit-clad tourist poses in front of “active” S-400 air defence systems positioned around the Yevpatoria Salt Lake next to the Black Sea coast.
The Defence of Ukraine tweeted: “Maybe we are being too hard on russian tourists… Sometimes they can be really helpful.
“Like this man taking pictures at russian air defence positions near Yevpatoria, in occupied Crimea. Thank you and keep up the good work!”
Citizen journalists were quick to geo-locate the area where the Russian forces were spotted arriving on site around July 20.
A new photo confirms the location of the air defense battery near Yevpatoria. The equipment arrived on site around July 20.
— Benjamin Pittet / Бенджамин Питтет (@COUPSURE) August 21, 2022
Geolocation in the next tweet.
Thanks to @kromark for the help.
1/2 https://t.co/R1GsLIJ6vs pic.twitter.com/It2qzsrvgx
On Sunday evening, the Russian-appointed governor of annexed Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozzhaev, wrote a warning on Telegram to Russian tourists.
He said: “I remind you: try to shoot less photos and do not upload videos of how our AD works. If you are filming or taking pictures, at least don’t reference to the area”.
It came days after a drone strike hit Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in the Crimea, officials said.
Social media footage showed a plume of smoke arising from a location in Sevastopol on Friday evening, which is where the fleet is based.
Governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, later said on his Telegram channel that a drone had targeted the building.
As reported by Russia’s news agency, Tass, he said: “I am at the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters now.
“A drone hit the roof here 25 minutes ago. Unfortunately, it was not downed. There are no casualties.”
However, Russian-installed officials in the area claimed the drone was shot down over the city by local defence forces, reports have stated.
The Ukrainian government has not commented on the attack.
