Ukraine targeted Sevastopol in a drone attack on Friday morning, causing power cuts and a fire in a South Russia refinery.
The drone raids formed part of Kyiv’s counter attacks to Russia’s offensives in the North-East of the country.
The Russian Defence Ministry said air defences downed 101 of the Ukrainian drones, including 51 over Crimea.
It said Russian warplanes and patrol boats destroyed a further six drones in the Black Sea.
Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of Sevastopol, said the drone attacked the city’s power plant. He warned residents of power cuts across the city.
Mr Razvozhayev said, “It could take a day to restore energy supplies.”
He continued, “Communal services are doing their best to restore the power system as quickly as possible”.
Schools have also been closed temporarily.
In Russian city Krasnodar, the drones caused a fire at an oil refinery in Tuapse. It was contained and there were no casualties.
The Belgorov governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a drone struck a vehicle, killing a woman and her four-year-child.
In Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent reported that 20 Russian drones were downed overnight.
"Russian forces have encountered a new enemy in the Black Sea: Ukraine’s arsenal of naval kamikaze drones," writes military historian Andrii Kharuk in this guest op-ed.https://t.co/VSsZ0q2mxo
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 16, 2024
Russian forces advance in North
In Ukraine, Russian forces have penetrated the border north of Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city.
More than 30,000 soldiers have made it over the border.
For the Ukraine army, delayed weapons deliveries from Western partners are leaving their home ground outgunned and outmanned.
The town of Vovchansk, located just five kilometres from the Russian border, has also seen increasing attack.
Local authorities have evacuated around 8,000 civilians. The Russian army’s usual tactic is to send multiple airstrikes to areas before they move in.
On average, Russia have been able to fire 10 times as many artillery shells. The hope is this will reduce when the US ammunition arrive.
Russia has also been testing defences at other points along the roughly 1,000-km front line across eastern Ukraine.
The line has barely changed in the past 18 months.
Recent attacks have also come in the eastern Donetsk region, as well as the Chernihiv and Sumy regions in the north and in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
The apparent aim is to stretch depleted Ukrainian resources and exploit weaknesses.
