A surge in airstrikes on Russian energy and fuel sites has disrupted supplies in several southern regions, state-run Tass news agency reported on Monday, citing the energy ministry. Asked whether the Kremlin is worried about the fuel crisis in Russian-occupied Crimea, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “There are indeed certain problems at the moment. Measures are being taken.” Peskov sought to blame unfounded panic-buying. Ukraine struck the Semykolodezkaya oil plant in the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday night, sparking a fire. The base is used to store fuel reserves supplying the Russian military, according to Ukraine’s military. Ukraine also struck an oil depot near Feodosia in Crimea, Kyiv’s general staff said.
Ukraine’s military said it also hit the Grushovaya oil transshipment base near Novorossiysk in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai region. The complex is one of the largest such hubs in southern Russia for oil and petroleum products. Russian regional authorities confirmed a Ukrainian drone sparked a fire and up to 130 emergency workers had to be brought in.
A French military Rafale fighter jet shot down a drone that entered Nato member Latvia’s airspace from Russia on Monday. The Latvian army said it entered as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare that was detected before the drone crossed the border. The Latvian prime minister, Andris Kulbergs, hailed the “swift decision-making and professional action” taken in response. The French army confirmed the downing while a Nato official said: “It shows once again Nato’s determination and ability to deter and defend.”
A drone crossed into Moldova early on Monday and apparently exploded as Russia attacked neighbouring Ukraine, the Moldovan defence ministry said. The fragments, found amid signs of an explosion, were being examined to establish its origin and the circumstances. “What happened underscores the risks and consequences that the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against Ukraine poses to regional security and neighbouring states,” Moldova’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Russian strikes killed three people and wounded half a dozen in Ukraine’s north-eastern Kharkiv region, local authorities said early on Tuesday. “The enemy has hit the city of Chuguiv,” said Oleg Synegubov, the regional governor. “Three people have been killed as a result of the enemy attack.” Separately, the Kharkiv mayor, Igor Terekhov, reported six people wounded in his city.
Two people were killed and at least 18 injured, including four children aged five, 10, 13 and 12, by a Russian drone attack in the central Zaporizhzhia region that damaged residential buildings and vehicles and destroyed market kiosks, said the regional military administration head, Ivan Fedorov. In Nikopol, a Russian attack killed a 49-year-old woman and injured four other people, according to the state emergency service, which added that four people were injured in the Dnipropetrovsk region when strikes hit residential buildings.
In the north-east region of Sumy, governor Oleg Grigorov reported a Russian attack with mortars and drones on the Seredyna-Buda district. “As a result of the enemy attack, a 71-year-old local resident who was riding a bicycle was killed,” he said. In Odesa, three people were wounded after a Russian drone struck a public transport stop. At least seven people were wounded in strikes at Sloviansk in the Donetsk region, local authorities said.
A Ukrainian drone struck a passenger train travelling from Moscow to Simferopol in occupied Crimea, injuring the driver and killing the driver’s assistant, Kremlin-installed regional leader Sergei Aksyonov reported early on Monday. All passenger train traffic in Crimea was halted after the attack, with passengers evacuated and replacement buses provided, Russian operator Grand Service Express said. Ukraine denies targeting civilians.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said a new proposed round of EU sanctions against Russia includes 80 listings targeting Russia’s “military industrial complex, human rights violators and propagandists”. Kallas said after a meeting of EU defence ministers on Monday that western sanctions had already cost Moscow an estimated $1.2tn to $1.5tn.