Ukrainian Drones Strike Oil Depot and Fuel Sites in Crimea, Killing Four

Ukrainian drone attacks struck an oil depot and fuel facilities in Crimea overnight into Sunday, killing at least four people and wounding 28, according to Russian-installed authorities. Crimea’s Moscow-installed leader Sergey Aksyonov said the strikes hit sites Russia uses to supply its forces. A local power grid operator reported outages in several areas after damage to electricity networks.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Ukraine had hit an oil depot in the Crimean city of Kerch and an oil transport facility in Russia’s Krasnodar region. In Krasnodar, local authorities said a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil transport facility killed one person on a passenger ferry and set an oil terminal ablaze.

The Russian Ministry of Defence said 239 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight.

Social media channels reported explosions and fires across Crimea. Telegram channel Krymsky Veter said a fire broke out at the fuel depot in Kerch and a large cloud of smoke rose over the city. Russian authorities closed the bridge linking Kerch with Krasnodar to traffic overnight.

Moscow-appointed Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev posted on Telegram that fuel deliveries were delayed and a petrol allocation to private motorists scheduled for Sunday was cancelled. He said fuel was available only for official services. Crimea’s tourism sector predicted that millions of tourists this summer will stay away from the peninsula.

Russia occupied and annexed Crimea in March 2014 after a disputed and internationally rejected referendum.