The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Monday that Kiev has made an unsuccessful attempt to hit targets in the Crimea, Rostov, and Kaluga regions with S-200 anti-aircraft missiles on July 9.

"On July 9 this year, the Kiev regime made an unsuccessful attempt to strike targets in the Crimea, Rostov and Kaluga regions with S-200 anti-aircraft missiles converted into a strike version in order to destroy ground targets," the Ministry said in a statement.

Four Ukrainian ballistic targets were destroyed on July 9, the statement said, adding that two S-200 missiles were destroyed by means of air defense, while two more similar missiles were suppressed by means of electronic warfare.

"There are no casualties and destruction," the Ministry noted.

Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov instructed the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as officials of the command post of the joint group, to identify storage and training sites, as well as the launch positions of Ukrainian S-200 missiles and similar strike weapons, and plan their preemptive fire damage.

Gerasimov also ordered taking additional measures to improve the protection of facilities from air strikes in the shortest possible time, the statement said.

In the same context, Colonel-General Viktor Afzalov, head of the main headquarters of the Russian Aerospace Forces, revealed that one of the S-200 missiles launched by Kiev was set to hit the Crimean Bridge.

"Air defense systems destroyed two missiles that attacked the Kerch transport crossing and Morozovsk [military] airfield [in the Rostov Region]," Afzalov said in a report to Gerasimov.

On Sunday, Sputnik cited Sergey Aksyonov, the head of the Republic of Crimea, as saying that Russia's air defense systems successfully intercepted a cruise missile in close proximity to the city of Kerch in Crimea.

Aksyonov confirmed via Telegram that the air defense forces in the Kerch area had shot down the cruise missile, with no reported damage or casualties resulting from the incident.

Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar officially acknowledged Kiev's responsibility for last year's bombing that targeted the Crimean Bridge in October, the Business Insider news website reported.

On Telegram, Maliar said that the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Strait Bridge, was bombed to obstruct Russia's supply lines.

The Ukrainian official said that Saturday marked 273 days since what she called the "first strike" on the bridge, which was carried out "in order to break the logistics of the Russians."

Although Ukrainian officials have previously not claimed responsibility for the bombing that killed four people and was deemed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a terrorist attack, they have hinted at it.

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