©picture alliance / newscom | Kremlin
The war between Russia and Ukraine continues to rage.
Ukraine said on Friday that it had attacked 13 Russian ships in the Sea of Azov, including ten tankers. According to Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine’s drone units, the operation is part of a broader campaign to deprive Russian troops of fuel and disrupt supplies to the occupied Crimean Peninsula. In addition to the tankers, a cargo ship and a ferry were also reportedly hit, Brovdi wrote on Telegram. He also reported that Ukrainian forces targeted five power plants in Russian-occupied Crimea that same night. The attacks are part of a series of Ukrainian drone operations targeting Russian logistics and energy infrastructure.
On the Russian side, damage from Ukrainian drone attacks was also reported on Friday. In the Krasnodar region, a fire broke out at the Ilskiy refinery after debris from a downed drone landed on the premises. In the southern Rostov region, two fuel depots also caught fire in the port city of Azov. No injuries were reported. Moscow said it had destroyed a total of 376 Ukrainian drones over Russia and the annexed Crimea during the night from Thursday to Friday. The attacks come at a time when Russia is already grappling with fuel shortages, particularly in Crimea, where supplies are coming under increasing pressure.
"Miscalculation by Washington"
Meanwhile, the Kremlin warned that Ukrainian attacks on Russian infrastructure will not shorten the war. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that increased pressure on Russian targets could, in fact, lead to an expansion of the security zone along the front lines and to a further escalation of the conflict. “The more the regime in Kyiv strikes our infrastructure, the more we will have to expand the security zone,” he told reporters on Thursday. Peskov called the idea that military pressure could lead to peace a miscalculation by Washington. “A new escalation could prolong the special military operation,” he said, referring to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
The wave of violence, incidentally, was not limited to Russian targets. Russian airstrikes on eastern and southern Ukraine claimed the lives of at least five people on Friday, while Kyiv was again hit by missiles overnight from Friday to Saturday. According to local authorities, at least eight people were injured in the capital, including an 11-year-old boy.
©picture alliance / newscom | Kremlin