Kyiv/Moscow, July 16 (SANA) Russia and Ukraine exchanged fresh attacks across the Black Sea region on Thursday, with Kyiv saying it targeted Russian oil tankers and Moscow reporting large-scale strikes on Ukrainian military, port and energy infrastructure, while Ukrainian officials said Russian missile attacks killed two people in Kyiv.
Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces struck six Russian oil tankers and two tugboats overnight in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, according to Reuters.
The military said the vessels were used to transport Russian oil and petroleum products, alleging they helped circumvent international sanctions and supply fuel to Russia’s armed forces.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it carried out overnight strikes using drones and long-range precision-guided weapons against military targets across Ukraine, including the Black Sea ports of Odesa and Yuzhny.
The ministry said the attacks hit facilities used to assemble and store drones, warehouses in Kyiv, and military and energy infrastructure in several regions. It also claimed Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian special forces boat near Snake Island and a cargo ship carrying military supplies bound for the port of Chornomorsk.
Ukrainian officials said Russian ballistic missiles struck several districts of Kyiv, killing two people and injuring six others, including a 16-year-old boy.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the attacks triggered fires at multiple locations, while emergency services reported damage to warehouses, trucks and a storage facility in the city’s Sviatoshynskyi district.
Officials also reported damage to an educational facility in Odesa following a separate Russian strike.
The latest escalation follows intensified fighting in the Black Sea on Wednesday, when Russian attacks on Odesa killed three people and Ukrainian drones targeted Russian vessels operating in the area.
T.S /ABD
