Four people were killed and 28 wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian-controlled peninsula of Crimea, the Russian-installed governor said.
Separately, local authorities in Russia’s Krasnodar region said a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil transport facility, confirmed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, killed one person on a passenger ferry and set an oil terminal ablaze.
The Russian Defence Ministry said 239 Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight.
Crimean Governor Sergei Aksyonov said fuel stations across the peninsula suspended sales to the public and businesses, with supplies restricted to government agencies responsible for essential services and security.
Ukraine has recently intensified drone attacks on Crimea, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, targeting the peninsula’s supply routes and triggering a fuel crisis as the holiday season starts.
A local power grid operator reported outages in several areas after damage to electricity networks, while ferry traffic across the Kerch Strait, separating Crimea from the Krasnodar region, was temporarily suspended.
Authorities also halted traffic on the bridge linking Crimea with Russia’s Krasnodar region for more than nine hours, leaving 11 trains running behind schedule.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged authorities in neighbouring Belarus for the second day running to dismantle relay stations he said were playing a role in staging Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian regions.
Belarus, under longtime President Alexander Lukashenko, has been one of Moscow’s closest allies in the more than four-year-old war against Ukraine and allowed the Kremlin to use its territory to launch the February 2022 invasion.
Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has repeatedly said he wants no further involvement in the conflict, but Zelenskiy has urged Belarus to prove that it will not provide direct support for Moscow’s war effort.
Zelenskiy did not refer directly to Lukashenko in his nightly video address and alluded to his contested re-election to new terms in office. But he said Ukraine knows of four relay stations in Belarus assisting Russian military activity.
“Belarus still has time to dismantle this equipment. We also know about every factory in Belarus that works for Russia and supports the war,” he said.
