Russia-Ukraine war LIVE updates | Ukraine confirms drone attack on Crimea

Pro-Russian authorities in Crimea informed late Saturday that rail traffic in the Russia-controlled region has been partially restored following drone attack by Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine has confirmed that it orchestrated an attack in Crimea which targeted an ammunition depot on Saturday. "The strike on military installations in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea was carried out by Ukrainian forces," a Ukrainian army source was quoted as saying by AFP.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the "unblocking" of the Black Sea grain corridor with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Saturday after Moscow exited a crucial deal to ensure the safe passage of ships. 

"We shared assessments of the current situation in the Black Sea and the risks it poses for global food security," Zelensky said on Twitter after a phone call with Stoltenberg. "We also identified with Mr Stoltenberg the priority and future steps necessary for unblocking and sustainable operation of the Black Sea grain corridor."

Poland's foreign ministry, on Saturday issued an "urgent" summons to the Russian ambassador over President Vladimir Putin's "provocative declarations". This comes a day after the Russian president issued a stern warning to Poland saying that it would treat any “aggression” against its ally Belarus as an attack on his own country.

Polish deputy foreign minister Pawel Jablonski said the Russian ambassador was summoned after Putin's statement as well as "threats and other inimical actions by the Russian Federation with regard to Poland and our allies."

He added, "The meeting was very brief." The polish deputy foreign minister also said that the "frontiers between countries are absolutely untouchable and Poland is opposed to any kind of revision thereof." 

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Russian defence ministry, on Saturday, said that a war correspondent for Russia's RIA news agency was killed and three other Russian journalists were wounded after shelling near the frontline in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhia region. 

Russian officials also claimed Ukraine launched an artillery strike on the journalists using cluster munitions. 

"As a result of a strike by the Ukrainian army using cluster munitions, four journalists were wounded in various levels of severity," the Russian army said in a statement.

"During an evacuation, the RIA Novosti journalist Rostislav Zhuravlev died from his wounds that resulted from the cluster munitions exploding."

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

Russia's Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, on Saturday, accused Ukraine of using cluster munitions on a day prior in Russian border village of Zhuravlevka in the western Belgorod region. 

"In the Belgorod region, 21 artillery shells and three cluster munitions from a multiple rocket launcher were fired (by the Ukrainian army) at the village of Zhuravlevka," said Gladkov on Telegram, referring to the attacks on Friday. 

Russia-installed official Sergei Aksyonov, said the train traffic on Crimean railways will be stopped on the peninsula to "minimise risks." In line with this, two trains going from Moscow to Crimea's main city of Simferopol and one in the opposite direction had been stopped, said the officials later. 

This also comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Crimea bridge "brings war not peace" and hence it is a military target. Notably, while Russia has accused of Ukraine of carrying out the attacks on the bridge, Kyiv has welcomed the accusations without directly claiming responsibility.

Russian-appointed head of Crimea said that an ammunition depot was “detonated” on Saturday (July 22) by the Ukrainian drone attack and ordered the people living within the five kilometres of the attack to evacuate while halting the rail traffic.

"As a result of an enemy drone on the Krasnogvardeisky district, there was a detonation at an ammunition depot," said official Sergei Aksyonov on Telegram.

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A Moscow-installed regional governor, on Saturday, said the drone attack on an ammunition depot in Crimea has prompted officials to evacuate everyone in the 5 kilometre radius and  briefly suspend road traffic on the Crimea bridge which links the peninsula to the Russian mainland. 

"Car traffic across the Crimea bridge is temporarily closed," the Moscow-backed Crimean government said on Telegram, before saying in a post 10 minutes later that it had "resumed". 

Meanwhile, Russia-installed official Sergei Aksyonov said there was an explosion at the depot in Krasnohvardiiske in central Crimea, no damage or casualties were immediately reported.