KYIV, Ukraine — A large hearth erupted at an oil depot in Crimea after it was hit by two of Ukraine’s drones, a Russia-appointed official there reported Saturday, the newest in a collection of assaults on the annexed peninsula as Russia braces for an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, a port metropolis in Crimea, posted movies and images of the blaze on his Telegram channel.

Razvozhayev mentioned the fireplace on the metropolis’s harbor was assigned the very best rating by way of how difficult it is going to be to extinguish. However, he reported that the open blaze had been contained.

Razvozhayev mentioned the oil depot was attacked by “two enemy drones,” and 4 oil tanks burned down. A 3rd drone was shot down from the sky over Crimea, and yet one more was deactivated by way of radio-electronic means, based on Crimea’s Moscow-appointed governor, Sergei Aksyonov.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a transfer that many of the world thought of unlawful. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned in an interview this week that his nation will searching for to reclaim the peninsula within the upcoming counteroffensive.

The incident comes a day after Russia fired greater than 20 cruise missiles and two drones at Ukraine, killing at the least 23 folks. Almost the entire victims died when two missiles slammed into an condominium constructing within the metropolis of Uman, positioned in central Ukraine.

Five youngsters had been among the many useless, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko mentioned Saturday, including 22 out 23 our bodies have been recognized. One girl remained lacking, Klymenko mentioned.

Russian forces launched extra drones at Ukraine in a single day. Ukraine’s Air Force Command mentioned two Iranian-made self-exploding Shahed drones had been intercepted, and a reconnaissance drone was shot down on Saturday morning.

Razvozhayev mentioned the oil depot hearth didn't trigger any casualties and wouldn't hinder gas provides in Sevastopol. The metropolis has been topic to common assault makes an attempt with drones, particularly in latest weeks.

Earlier this week, Razvozhayev reported that the Russian army destroyed a Ukrainian sea drone that tried to assault the harbor and one other one blew up, shattering home windows in a number of condominium buildings, however not inflicting some other harm.

Ukraine’s army intelligence spokesperson, Andriy Yusov, instructed the RBC Ukraine information website on Saturday that the oil depot hearth was “God’s punishment” for “the murdered civilians in Uman, including five children.”

He mentioned that greater than 10 tanks containing oil merchandise for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet had been destroyed in Sevastopol, however stopped wanting acknowledging Ukraine’s accountability for a drone assault. The distinction between the variety of tanks Yusov and Razvozhayev gave couldn't be instantly reconciled.

After earlier assaults on Crimea, Kyiv additionally wouldn’t overtly declare accountability, emphasizing, nonetheless, that the nation had the appropriate to strike any goal in response to Russian aggression.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces shelled the town of Nova Kakhovka, based on Moscow-installed authorities within the Russian-occupied a part of southern Ukraine’s Kherson province. “Severe artillery fire” reduce off energy within the metropolis, the officers mentioned.

The Ukrainian-controlled a part of the province additionally got here underneath hearth on Saturday. Russian shelling within the space of the village of Bilozerka killed one particular person and wounded one other, based on the Kherson prosecutor’s workplace.

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