Ukraine war: Russia says it intercepts 38 Ukrainian drones attacking Crimea

BBC News:

A series of explosions have rocked Crimea, after a reported Ukrainian drone attack on the peninsula which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Video posted online shows a blast allegedly near a fuel depot in the south-eastern city of Feodosiya.

Russian officials said 38 drones had been shot down. The Kerch bridge which connects Crimea with Russia was temporarily closed.

The attack comes as Ukraine continues to urge allies to boost arms supplies.

Russian troops have recently made gains in Ukraine as Kyiv struggles to sustain its forces with Western-made arms. Moscow took control last month of the key eastern town of Avdiivka.

However, according to British military intelligence, this has come at a huge cost. In its latest update, it said February had been the deadliest for the Russians since the start of the full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022 – with 983 killed and wounded per day.

“Today, Russia has highly likely lost over 355,000 personnel killed or wounded during the Ukraine war,” it said. It is not clear how the figure was reached.

Russia does not provide a record of casualties.

A few days ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Ukraine had lost 31,000 troops since 24 February 2022. He also claimed that 180,000 Russian troops had been killed since then.

Russia has not reported any damage from the latest attack on Crimea, although eyewitnesses have reported windows shaking and car alarms going off. Kyiv has not confirmed its forces were involved.

On Saturday, a Russian drone hit a block of flats in the Ukrainian city of Odesa, killing at least 12 people, including five children. Sunday is a day of mourning in Odesa and the region.

In a separate development on Sunday, Russia targeted the southern Kherson region, killing one person and injuring another three, according to Ukrainian officials.

They also said 16 people were injured in Russian shelling of the town of Kurakhove, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.