Ukrainian officials have said the country’s armed forces have destroyed a Russian military patrol boat on the Black Sea near the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia ten years ago.
The strategic waterway has become an increasingly important battleground as Ukrainian forces claim a string of attacks on Moscow’s fleet.
Ukraine’s military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov said the ship had been hit previously but was destroyed after the overnight attack by maritime drones.
“As for the crew, the details are being clarified. There are dead and wounded. But it is likely that some of the crew managed to evacuate,” he told Ukrainian media.
There was no official response from the Russian defence ministry.
Ukraine’s military intelligence said earlier that their drones struck the ship near the Kerch Strait, causing “damage to the stern, starboard and port sides”.
The Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said that Russia’s Black Sea fleet is “a symbol of the occupation,” adding that, “it cannot be in Ukraine’s Crimea”.
Ukraine’s air force said earlier this morning that it had downed 18 of 22 Iranian-designed attack drones launched by Russia over the Black Sea port city of Odesa.
Elsewhere, a military intelligence source in Kyiv said Ukrainian forces had struck an oil depot in the Russian border region of Belgorod, setting at least one fuel tank ablaze.
Kyiv has ramped up drone attacks on Russia’s energy industry in the past three months, terming it “fair” retaliation on infrastructure Moscow uses to fuel its invasion.
A Ukrainian drone hit a depot in the Russian village of Dolgoye, about 4km from the border, the source told AFP.
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said emergency services were dealing with a fire at an “infrastructure facility”, but did not mention a drone.
“There were no casualties. Operational and emergency services are working on the site. All circumstances of the incident are being established,” he said.
Ukraine also targeted other Russian regions.
Ukrainian artillery strikes in the neighbouring region of Kursk sparked a fire at a train station and cut power to a village, the regional governor said.
“The Glushkovo railway station was shelled from the Ukrainian side. A total of nine incoming attacks were counted, there were no casualties,” Roman Starovoit said.
“Electricity lines were also damaged. Glushkovo station and the village of Kulbaki were left without power. As soon as it is safe, emergency crews will start restoring it,” he added.
Glushkovo is a town of around 5,000 people and located some 10km from the Ukrainian border. Kulbaki is a smaller village nearby.
Ukrainian drones also targeted the Russian city of Voronezh, further inland, prompting authorities to declare an air alert, regional governor Alexander Gusev said.
The Russian defence ministry said air defences had downed three drones over the border region of Belgorod overnight and one drone over the Kursk region in the morning.
