Russia blames Ukraine for massive drone strike on Crimea

By Stefan J. Bos

Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine launched 38 drones on the Crimea Peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. However, the ministry claimed its air defences destroyed all of them.

It did not explain whether any damage or casualties resulted from the attack, with unconfirmed reports of powerful explosions near the port of Feodosia.

Separately, Russian authorities said there was "an emergency" in an apartment building in St Petersburg, with local news media reporting that a Ukrainian drone hit the residential building in Russia's second-largest city.

Residents were evacuated, and there were no immediate reports of casualties. However, the reported Ukrainian attacks came after the Ukrainian city of Odesa was hit by a Russian strike.

Rescuers have found a killed mother and a baby here, among other victims already discovered beneath the rubble of this apartment block.

Officials say the complex was hit by debris from an Iranian-made drone launched by Russia's military.

More attacks

Russian attacks, including artillery and mortar strikes causing death and injuries, were also reported elsewhere in Ukraine, including in the eastern province of Kharkiv and its regional capital with the same name.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that the attacks underscored the need for the faster delivery of Western weapons.

But Turkey, which has brokered grain deals between Kyiv and Moscow in the past, urged a ceasefire in the more than two-year-old war sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Its Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told the media, "A dialogue for a ceasefire (in Ukraine) should start."

The minister added that "doesn't mean recognizing the occupation [by Russia], but issues of sovereignty and ceasefire should be discussed separately."

Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and injured in Europe's bloodiest conflict since the Second World War.