Attacks rock Russia-controlled territories

A huge fire erupted in Moscow-annexed Crimea after a suspected drone attack hit an oil depot yesterday, as fighting intensified on the southern Ukrainian front and shelling deprived Russian border villages of power.

The attacks came one day after Kyiv said preparations for a long-awaited counteroffensive were nearly complete, having vowed to expel Russian forces from territory they seized in the east and south following their 2022 invasion.

Officials in Moscow-controlled Crimea, towns under Russian occupation in southern Ukraine and a governor of a border region reported attacks yesterday.

In Sevastopol, home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, clouds of smoke rose high into the sky as a fuel reserved burned.

Russian-installed authorities said the Crimea fire was caused by a suspected drone but sought to downplay the incident, amid rising security fears on the peninsula.

The Kremlin said nothing about the attack.

Ukraine did not claim the Crimea attack, but military intelligence implied it was revenge for Uman.

On the Russian-annexed peninsula, the governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, urged Crimeans to "remain calm" and said "nobody was hurt."

He estimated the fire was "around 1,000 square metres" (10,764 square feet).

Razvozhayev insisted that the peninsula's reserves were not impacted and that authorities had enough fuel for all civilian needs.

In southern Ukraine, Russian occupation authorities said a key city they control -- Novaya Kakhovka -- had come under "intense shelling" and had been cut off from power.

The attacks came less than 24 hours after Russia struck a typical Soviet-era housing bloc in the historic city of Uman, killing more than two dozen of its residents.

Kyiv yesterday identified five children killed in the attack as an 18-month-old boy, three girls aged eight, 11 and 14, and a 16-year-old boy.

"One woman is considered missing. The search continues," Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

Elsewhere, Russia accused Poland -- with whom it has historically poor relations -- of a "blatant violation" of international norms after Warsaw impounded a school run by the Russian embassy in the Polish capital.

Moscow called the move an "illegal act" and promised "harsh" consequences against Warsaw.