A Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea Saturday blew up an ammunition depot, sparking evacuations on the Moscow-annexed peninsula just five days after drones damaged Russia’s symbolic bridge across the Kerch Strait.
Late on Saturday, Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko arrived in Saint Petersburg, where he is due to meet the Russian president for the first time since he helped end a dramatic mutiny by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group.
Putin and his closest ally plan to discuss the “strategic partnership and alliance” between their two countries on Sunday, according to the Kremlin.
Moscow meanwhile blamed the West and Kyiv for the death of a Russian war correspondent, saying he was killed by cluster munitions.
– Crimea attack –
Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, has been targeted by Kyiv throughout Moscow’s 17-month Ukraine offensive but has come under more intense, increased attacks in recent weeks.
In a counteroffensive launched to retake territory lost to Moscow, Kyiv has increasingly made clear — despite some Western unease — that it also aims to take back the annexed Black Sea peninsula.
“The goal is to return Crimea,” Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said, according to a transcript published by his office Saturday of a speech on Friday.
He said Kyiv considers the Crimea bridge — opened by Russian leader Vladimir Putin in 2018 — as an “enemy object” and wants it to be “neutralised”.
Less than 24 hours later, the Moscow-installed head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said an “enemy” drone had detonated an ammunition depot.
“As a result of an attack by an enemy drone on the Krasnogvardeisky district, an ammunition depot detonated,” Aksyonov said on Telegram, referring to an area that lies inland at the centre of Crimea.
He ordered the evacuation of people living within five kilometres of the zone.
Aksyonov claimed there was little damage, but unverified videos on social media showed billowing smoke rising into the air.
The Moscow-installed health ministry later said four people were taken to hospital, without providing further details.
A Ukrainian army source confirmed Kyiv was behind the attack, saying: “The strike on military installations in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea was carried out by Ukrainian forces”.
Rail traffic resumed late on Saturday after being halted to “minimise risks”.
Road traffic across the bridge — one of the few ways to get out of Crimea as flights have been cancelled during the conflict — was briefly suspended, pro-Russian authorities said.
It had only just restarted after a Ukrainian attack damaged the bridge Tuesday, killing two people.
– Russian journalist killed –
Russia alleged that Kyiv had used cluster munitions on the Russian border village of Zhuravlevka and that the controversial weapon had killed one of its journalists in a frontline village.
The allegations came two weeks after US President Joe Biden faced fierce criticism from his own allies for sending the munitions, which pose a long-term risk to civilians.
The Russian army announced that Rostislav Zhuravlev, a war correspondent working for the state RIA Novosti news agency, died from his wounds after coming under fire from cluster munitions in occupied southern Ukraine.
Moscow blamed the West and Kyiv, vowing to respond after what the foreign ministry called “a heinous, premeditated crime”.
Three other journalists were said to be stable in hospital after the attack.
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, meanwhile, said “three cluster munitions from a multiple rocket launcher were fired (by the Ukrainian army) at the village of Zhuravlevka” on Friday.
The region has seen near daily cross-border attacks for months.
It was the first time Russia reported the weapons were used on its territory.
Putin has said Moscow had enough cluster munitions to answer if Ukraine was to use the weapons.
– Black Sea escalation –
The attacks on Crimea have come as many of Kyiv’s Western allies feel uncomfortable about Ukrainian ambitions to take back the annexed land, fearing a larger scale conflict with Russia.
They have also signified a sharp escalation in the Black Sea area.
Ukraine has said it is looking for ways to keep a grain corridor in the Black Sea.
Zelensky said he discussed the “unblocking” of the corridor with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Saturday.
The pair had spoken about “future steps necessary for unblocking and (the) sustainable operation of the Black Sea grain corridor,” he said, without giving further details.
Kyiv has called on the United Nations and neighbouring countries to secure safe passage for cargoes through joint patrols.
In a speech on Friday, Zelensky warned that Moscow “believes that the Black Sea is purely Russian.”
The Russian army on Friday carried out live-fire exercises in the Black Sea, with the UN warning against escalation.
On the battlefield, Moscow’s forces said Saturday that they had pushed back three Ukrainian attacks in the eastern villages of Urozhayniy and Priyutniy.
Ukraine also said Russia shelled Kupyansk — in the northeastern Kharkiv region where Russia has gone on a limited offensive this week — Saturday, killing a 57-year-old woman.
