SIMFEROPOL, October 5. /TASS/. Crimea’s defenses have been strengthened to counter massive attacks by Ukraine, regional Head Sergey Aksyonov said in an interview with the Crimea-24 TV channel.

"I can say that air defense forces have also been significantly strengthened in the Republic of Crimea and they are ready to counter massive strikes," Aksyonov pointed out.

According to him, Ukraine’s occasional attempted attacks have definitely affected the inflow of tourists to Crimea as people are wary of traveling to the peninsula. However, Crimea’s defenses are quite effective at the moment. "We clearly understand and know where, when and what targets may be hit, in what manner and so on. We build an effective defense based on this knowledge," Crimea’s head explained.

Crimea and the city of Sevastopol regularly come under Ukrainian air strikes. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russia’s on-duty air defenses detected and destroyed a Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missile off Crimea’s coast over the northwestern part of the Black Sea late on October 3.