Russia, Ukraine Trade Accusations Over Deadly Overnight Strikes in Crimea, Zaporizhzhia

Moscow and Kyiv have traded blame over deadly overnight strikes that left several people dead in both Russia-annexed Crimea and southeastern Ukraine.

The Kremlin-backed head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, accused Ukraine of carrying out a drone attack on the resort town of Foros, saying it damaged a sanatorium and a school building.

“According to updated data, three people were killed and 16 were wounded as a result of (the) UAV attack,” Aksyonov said on Telegram. He added that fragments from a downed drone sparked a fire near Yalta.

Russia’s defence ministry described the incident as a “terrorist attack” and initially reported two deaths.

In response, Kyiv said Moscow had unleashed 46 air strikes across Ukrainian territory by 10:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Sunday. Officials reported that Russian overnight strikes on Zaporizhzhia killed three people and left two others injured, one critically.

Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional military administration, stated that Russian forces had “dropped at least five” bombs on the southern city.

Russia, which annexed Crimea in 2014, insists the peninsula is part of its territory — a claim Kyiv and its Western allies reject. Ukrainian forces have frequently targeted the heavily fortified region, including attacks on the bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland.

Last month, US President Donald Trump, after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Ukraine would not be able to reclaim Crimea as part of a peace deal. Despite those diplomatic engagements, negotiations toward a truce have since stalled, even after Trump also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Opinion Nigeria News