Russia reeling after Ukraine carries out 'explosive' sabotage attack in Crimea

Ukraine's military has landed an "explosive" blow against Russian forces in Crimea in a major sabotage attack. The peninsula is an important logistical centre for Putin's army fighting in southern Ukraine.

It has been targeted repeatedly by Kyiv's army, who have launched regular aerial bombardments of the island in an attempt to disrupt Russia's war machine. A combination of drones and missiles have wiped out air defence systems, inflicted major damage on Russia's Black Sea Fleet and targeted military bases and warehouses. Ukraine has also attempted on a number of occasions to blow up the Kerch Bridge that connects Crimea with the Russian mainland.

Now Zelensky's forces have successfully carried out a cyber attack that allowed them to download 100 terabytes of documents belonging to the occupation authorities.

These included "top secret" files containing vital information on Russian military facilities and logistics routes. The cyber attack was carried pout over several days by Ukraine's military intelligence service - the HUR.

"There's so much data extracted that we're about to learn a lot of explosive details about the operations and crimes of Russian occupiers in Ukrainian Crimea," an HUR source told RBC-Ukraine.

"We'd like to extend our thanks for helping this special operation succeed to Anton Lyaskovsky, the deputy health minister of the occupation government in Crimea," they added.

HUR cyber experts wiped all the data stored on the servers of regional and district government bodies, ministries, and agencies of the occupation administration in Crimea, after copying all the valuable information.

Crimean authorities said their IT specialists are attempting to restore services. Ukraine is stepping up its cyber attacks on Russia, as it expands its hybrid-warfare programme.

Earlier in July, HUR cyber specialists targeted the Russian company Gaskar Integration, one of the largest suppliers of drones for the Kremlin's army.

Ukrainian hackers also attacked one of Siberia's largest internet providers, Orion Telecom, as well as the Russian Railways - causing travel chaos.