Huge fire breaks out at fuel depot in Russian-occupied Crimea after drone strike: Official

A huge fire broke out at a fuel depot in Russia-annexed Crimea's port city of Sevastopol on Saturday (April 29), with authorities saying it was the result of a drone strike. The Russian-installed governor of the peninsula, Mikhail Razvozhayev said on Telegram, "A fuel reserve is on fire in the Kazachya Bay district of Crimea's port city Sevastopol. According to preliminary information, it was caused by a drone strike."

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No one was hurt in the fire, Razvozhayev said. "The situation is under the control of our firefighters and all operative services. Since the volume of fuel is large, it will take time to localise the fire," the governor further said and urged residents to remain calm.

ALSO READ |Ukraine war: Russian missile strikes kill 26 including five children; Zelensky vows response

Sevastopol, on the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, has come under repeated air attacks since Russiasent its troops to its neighbour in February last year.

Saturday's drone strike comes after Russia said on Monday that it repelled a drone attack on Sevastopol. "An attempted attack on Sevastopol was repelled from 3:30 am," Razvozhayev wrote on Telegram, adding that one unmanned surface vehicle, or drone ship, was destroyed while a second exploded. There was no damage or casualties.

The ongoing war in Ukraine has intensified further after Russian missile strikes battered Ukrainian cities on Friday, killing 26 people, including five children. These were the first large-scale air strikes in nearly two months.

Friday's missile attacks included a strike on a residential block in Uman where 23 people, including four children, were killed. The central city of Dnipro was also targeted, killing a 31-year-old woman and her two-year-old daughter in their sleep. And in Kherson, Russian forces shelled the village of Bilozerka, killing a 57-year-old woman and wounding three others.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the strikes and vowed a response. Only absolute evil can unleash such terror against Ukraine," he said in his evening address on Friday.

The Ukrainian government has said that its preparations to push back against entrenched Russian positions were almost complete. "Equipment has been promised, prepared and partially delivered. In a global sense, we're ready. Preparations are coming to an end," Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Friday.

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