On Monday, the leader of the Russian-backed authorities in Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, blamed Ukraine for a deadly drone strike on the peninsula. At the same time, Ukraine reported that Russian attacks had killed three people in the southeast of the country.
Aksyonov explained that the Ukrainian military had targeted the Crimean resort town of Foros. The attack damaged part of a sanatorium, which is a health resort where people go to recover, and also a nearby school building. He later confirmed that three people had been killed and 16 others were injured in the drone strike. These details were shared by him on the social media platform Telegram.
The Russian defence ministry reacted strongly, calling the strike a terrorist attack. At first, they said that only two people had died, but the number was later updated.
Meanwhile, Ukraine reported that Russian forces had carried out 46 air strikes across its territory by 10:00 p.m. on Sunday. According to Kyiv, Russian overnight bombings in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia caused the deaths of three civilians and left two more wounded, one of them in very serious condition. Ivan Fedorov, the head of the local military administration, added that Russian planes had dropped at least five bombs on the city.
Crimea has been at the center of tensions since 2014, when Russia annexed the peninsula. Moscow continues to demand that Ukraine and Western countries recognize Crimea as part of Russia, but Kyiv and most of the world reject this claim. Ukrainian forces often launch attacks on Crimea, including strikes on the heavily guarded bridge that links the peninsula to mainland Russia.
Last month, after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Ukraine would not be able to take back Crimea as part of any peace agreement. These remarks came during a series of diplomatic meetings, which also included a separate discussion between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. However, despite these talks, efforts to reach a truce have slowed down, and no significant progress hasbeen made.
