In Crimea, two drone attacks repelled, Russian-installed official says

LONDON (Reuters) -Russian air defences on Tuesday repelled two drone attacks in Crimea, annexed from Ukraine in 2014, including one attack targeting a power station, the regional governor said in a statement.

Russian-installed Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev said the second attack was repelled over the sea off the peninsula. He called for calm and said no damage had been caused.

"The Ukrainian Nazis have again tried to attack our thermal power station at Balaklava," Razvozhaev said on Telegram, referring to a facility near Sevastopol, the home port of Russia's Black Sea naval fleet.

"Our fleet also repelled an attack offshore by three UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles)."

Razvozhaev said the city of Sevastopol was now quiet, "but all services and forces are in a state of military readiness".

Russia blamed Ukraine for an attack on the port using air and marine drones at the end of October, in response to which it briefly suspended its participation in a deal to facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea.

In an earlier posting, Razvozhaev said an attack by drones was under way. Air defences were working and two drones had been shot down.

Crimea was one of the launchpads for Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 and has several times come under attack - most spectacularly in August, when a series of explosions destroyed a group of warplanes at a Russian naval base.

(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan and Ron Popeski; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Cynthia Osterman)