MOSCOW: At least 16 people were killed in Ukrainian and Russian strikes on Saturday, in a deadly fifth summer of war as both sides intensify attacks, with diplomacy at a deadlock. Ukrainian drones also targeted a Siberian oil refinery and the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, escalating strikes deep inside Russia — which it says are aimed to weaken Russia's war effort and force the Kremlin to negotiate.
The deaths — in Russian-occupied Ukraine, north-eastern Ukraine and Russian border villages — come as the UN has warned of civilians dying in larger numbers recently in the almost 4.5-year war. US-led talks on ending the fighting are at a deadlock, with Washington focused on the Middle East and Moscow intent on seizing the whole of eastern Ukraine.
Russian occupational authorities in southern Ukraine said a Ukrainian strike on an Azov Sea village killed eight people, including two children. Yevgeny Balitsky, the Moscow-installed head of the Russian occupied part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, said Kyiv had struck "tourist camps" in the seaside village of Kyrylivka. Balitsky said the strike also wounded 14 people in Kyrylivka — seized by Russia in the first days of its offensive.
Kyiv has not yet commented on the strike. Ukraine has intensified attacks in the Azov Sea in recent weeks, targeting Russian ships there.
Kyiv, meanwhile, said a Russian drone strike on its private courier service Nova Poshta in the north-eastern city of Sumy killed three drivers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was a "double-tap" drone strike. Two more people were killed in southern Ukraine, Kyiv said, as Moscow reported two villagers killed in border areas and one more person in the occupied part of Ukraine's Kherson region.
Far from the battlefield, Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in Siberia's Tyumen region, more than 1,000 miles east of Moscow, in one of its furthest hits so far. Ukraine's strikes deep inside Russia have caused fuel shortages and disrupted ordinary life in Russia more than at any point during the 4.5-year war. The governor of the Tyumen region, Alexander Moor, said a Ukrainian drone fell "on the territory" of an oil refinery, causing a fire.
Moscow said Ukraine had launched more than 300 drones into Russian territory, including on regions far from the border. Zelensky announced Kyiv had also struck a factory in Kirov — hundreds of kilometres east of Moscow — for the second day in a row, a day after a deadly strike there. "Once again, a plant in Kirov was struck - the one supplying components for the weapons Russia uses to attack our people," Zelensky said.
Kirov Governor Alexander Sokolov earlier declared three days of mourning in the region, which has so far not been affected by Ukraine's strikes.
Sokolov said the final death toll from Friday's strike was five and not six, after a man believed to be dead was found alive. He called the dead "heroes of the labour front", saying the strike would only "unite us against the enemy" and that Russia was fighting "the collective West."
Further west in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, Russian online retail giant Wildberries — hit by Ukrainian strikes this week — said it had evacuated its staff. Yekaterinburg is one of Russia's biggest cities and lies just before Siberia. Wildberries said it had "suspended" work at its "logistics facility" in the city after a "timely evacuation". It said its facility was not damaged.
Ukrainian drones have hit Wildberries warehouses around Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Crimea and southern Russia this week, causing fires and business losses. The head of the Sverdlovsk region, of which Yekaterinburg is the capital, Denis Pasler, confirmed the city had been attacked. Pasler said there were no casualties and that the drones had caused a fire at a parking lot. — AFP
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