On April 29, a fuel storage facility in Sevastopol, a port city in Crimea, was set on fire by a drone strike. According to Mikhail Razvozhaev, the governor appointed by Moscow, the fire was caused by a single drone that was able to reach the oil reservoir, while another drone was shot down and its wreckage was found near the terminal. No one was injured in the incident.
Andriy Yusov, a Ukrainian military intelligence official, said that more than 10 tanks of oil products, with a capacity of around 40,000 tonnes, intended for use by Russia's Black Sea Fleet were destroyed in the fire. He described the blast as "God's punishment" for a Russian strike on a Ukrainian city the previous day, but did not claim responsibility for the drone strike.
Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed head of Crimea, said that air defence and electronic warfare forces had shot down two drones over the Crimean Peninsula on the same day. He added that there were no casualties or destruction.
Since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, Sevastopol has been the target of repeated air attacks. Russian officials have blamed Ukraine for these attacks, but the Ukrainian armed forces denied any responsibility for the fuel storage facility fire.
The incident came a day after Russia launched air strikes on cities across Ukraine, killing at least 25 people. One of the targets was a block of flats in the central Ukrainian city of Uman, where 23 people, including four children, were killed. Another attack in the city of Dnipro killed a woman and her three-year-old daughter. Kyiv was also targeted for the first time in 51 days, but there were no reports of casualties in the capital.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for international action against Russia in response to the attacks. He stated that "evil can be stopped by weapons... And it can be stopped by sanctions - global sanctions must be enhanced." Ukrainian forces have announced their readiness to launch a military offensive with new equipment supplied by Western allies.
Russia has been struggling to make headway in a winter offensive, including a 10-month battle for control of the strategically important city of Bakhmut. The recent attacks are likely to escalate tensions between Ukraine and Russia, as well as trigger further international condemnation of Russia's actions.
