Ukraine says it has scored a victory in its battle to reclaim territory from Russia’s occupation with the recapture of the so-called Boiko Towers, a collection of oil and gas drilling platforms off the coast of Crimea, by its special forces. Russia had occupied the platforms since 2015 and had used them for military purposes since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February. The Ukrainian government said in a statement that GUR special forces had carried out a “unique operation to establish control over the Boiko Towers,” recapturing the Petro Godovanets and Ukraina drilling platforms and two floating drilling rigs. It said a Russian SU-30 had been damaged and forced to retreat during the battle and that Ukrainian forces had captured a stock of guided helicopter missiles as well as a radar system that can be used to track ships across the Black Sea.
