Moscow: Early on Saturday, 20 Ukrainian drones were launched onto the Crimean Peninsula by Russian forces, according to the Russian defence ministry. The ministry posted on the messaging app Telegram that there were no casualties and no damage as a result of the attempted attack. It claimed that six drones were suppressed by electronic warfare while 14 drones were destroyed by air defence systems.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the claim. What was the intended target of the reported attacks on the peninsula that Russia has annexed?

Earlier, Sergei Kryuchkov, a counsellor to the Crimea governor installed by Russia, claimed that air defence systems were defending the peninsula from air attacks in various locations.

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Traffic on the Crimean Bridge, which connects the Black Sea peninsula with the Russian region of Krasnodar, was suspended starting at 1:30 a.m. (2230 GMT), according to Crimea's transport authorities on their Telegram channel.

Since a drone was shot down over the Kremlin in early May, drone attacks on Russian-controlled territories in Ukraine and deep inside Russia have increased.

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Although Ukraine has stated that destroying Russia's military infrastructure is essential for Kyiv's counteroffensive, it hardly ever publicly claims responsibility for the attacks.

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Eight years before President Vladimir Putin issued the order for a full-scale invasion of Russia's neighbour in February of last year, Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.