Ukrainian forces have struck an oil terminal in the Russian Black Sea city of Tuapse, according to Ukraine's General Staff. This marks the fourth attack on the region's oil infrastructure in just over two weeks. Local officials in Russia said a Ukrainian drone attack sparked a blaze, but no casualties were reported. Meanwhile, Russian attacks continue to hit Ukraine. On Friday, Russia attacked the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil with over 50 drones, wounding at least 10 people. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia continues to target energy and civilian infrastructure with drone strikes.
By LORI HINNANT and ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press
Updated
Ukrainian officials say two Russian ballistic missiles blasted a military academy and nearby hospital in Ukraine, killing more than 50 people and wounding more than 200 others. The attack on Tuesday appeared to be one of the deadliest Russian strikes since the war began. The strike hit the central-eastern city of Poltava, the capital of the region of the same name. It partially destroyed a building used by the Poltava Military Institute of Communications. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said some people got trapped in the rubble and that many were saved. Shattered bricks were visible inside the closed gates of the institution, which was off-limits to the media, and pools of blood could be seen just outside.
Russia battered much of Ukraine with scores of missiles and drones that officials say killed four people, injured more than a dozen, and damaged energy facilities. President Volodymyr Zelensky described the latest attacks as "vile." The barrage of over 100 missiles and a similar number of drones began around midnight and continued after dawn on Monday in what appeared to be Russia's biggest onslaught in weeks. Ukraine's air force said swarms of Russian drones fired at eastern, northern, southern, and central regions of Ukraine were followed by cruise and ballistic missiles. At least four people were reported killed and over a dozen injured.
The United States has lifted a ban on providing American weapons and training to a controversial Ukrainian military unit that was key to the defense of the major port city of Mariupol. The Azov Brigade is among Ukraine's most effective and popular fighting units. But it has been dogged by its origins as a volunteer battalion that drew fighters from far-right circles and criticism for some of its tactics. The U.S. had banned the regiment from using American weapons, citing the neo-Nazi ideology of some of its founders. The unit has been absorbed into Ukraine's National Guard as the 12th Special Forces Brigade. Its current members reject accusations of extremism and any ties with far-right movements.
