Aaj TV English News - World https://english.aaj.tv/ Aaj TV English en-Us Copyright 2026 Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:37:18 +0500 Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:37:18 +0500 60 Russia blames Ukraine drone attack for major Crimea fuel depot fire https://english.aaj.tv/news/30319985/russia-blames-ukraine-drone-attack-for-major-crimea-fuel-depot-fire <p><strong>A Ukrainian drone strike set ablaze a Russian fuel storage facility in the Crimean port of Sevastopol early on Saturday, sending a vast column of black smoke into the sky in the latest attack on the Russia-occupied peninsula.</strong></p> <p>The city’s Moscow-installed governor blamed Ukraine and later said the fire had been put out before a disaster occurred.</p> <p> <figure class='media sm:w-full w-full media--stretch '> <div class='media__item '><picture><img src='https://i.aaj.tv/large/2023/05/031809435c321f9.webp?r=181014' alt='Smoke rises over a fuel tank following an alleged drone attack in Sevastopol, Crimea. Photo: Reuters' /></picture></div> <figcaption class='media__caption '>Smoke rises over a fuel tank following an alleged drone attack in Sevastopol, Crimea. Photo: Reuters</figcaption> </figure></p> <p>A Ukrainian military intelligence official said more than 10 tanks of oil products with a capacity of about 40,000 tonnes intended for use by Russia’s Black Sea Fleet were destroyed, RBC Ukraine reported.</p> <p>The strike came as Ukraine prepares for a long-promised counter offensive to push Russian forces back from territory they seized since invading in February 2022.</p> <p>Ukraine says control of all its legal territory, including Crimea, is a key condition for any peace deal. Russian forces occupied the peninsula in 2014.</p> <p> <figure class='media sm:w-full w-full media--stretch '> <div class='media__item '><picture><img src='https://i.aaj.tv/large/2023/05/031809507a07025.webp?r=181014' alt='Local resident Irina Vovk, 38, embraces her neighbour while meeting outside their houses destroyed by shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine. Photo: Reuters' /></picture></div> <figcaption class='media__caption '>Local resident Irina Vovk, 38, embraces her neighbour while meeting outside their houses destroyed by shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine. Photo: Reuters</figcaption> </figure></p> <p>Moscow has accused Kyiv of sending waves of aerial and seaborne drones to attack Crimea.</p> <p>Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhaev said only one drone hit the oil tanks.</p> <p>“The enemy … wanted to take Sevastopol by surprise, as usual, by staging a sneak attack in the morning,” Razvozhaev wrote on the Telegram app. Russian firefighters had shown how to defeat a major blaze “and prevent a catastrophe”, he added.</p> <p> <figure class='media sm:w-full w-full media--stretch '> <div class='media__item '><picture><img src='https://i.aaj.tv/large/2023/05/031809572a4b9fe.webp?r=181014' alt='Local residents carry belongings out of their house destroyed by shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine. Photo: Reuters' /></picture></div> <figcaption class='media__caption '>Local residents carry belongings out of their house destroyed by shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine. Photo: Reuters</figcaption> </figure></p> <p>Ukraine lacks longer-range missiles that can reach targets in places such as Sevastopol, but has been developing drones to overcome this hurdle.</p> <p>Ukrainian officials do not usually claim responsibility for explosions at military sites in Crimea, although they sometimes celebrate them using euphemistic language.</p> <p>Andriy Yusov, a Ukrainian military official, did not say Ukraine carried out the attack. Instead, he told RBC the blast was “God’s punishment” for a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Uman on Friday that killed 23 people.</p> <p> <figure class='media sm:w-full w-full media--stretch '> <div class='media__item '><picture><img src='https://i.aaj.tv/large/2023/05/03181021d09135a.webp' alt=' Women react as they pay tribute to civilian people killed by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia&rsquo;s attack on Ukraine, at a strike site in the town of Uman, Cherkasy region, Ukraine April 29, 2023. Photo: Reuters ' /></picture></div> <figcaption class='media__caption '>Women react as they pay tribute to civilian people killed by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, at a strike site in the town of Uman, Cherkasy region, Ukraine April 29, 2023. Photo: Reuters</figcaption> </figure></p> A Ukrainian drone strike set ablaze a Russian fuel storage facility in the Crimean port of Sevastopol early on Saturday, sending a vast column of black smoke into the sky in the latest attack on the Russia-occupied peninsula.

The city’s Moscow-installed governor blamed Ukraine and later said the fire had been put out before a disaster occurred.

Smoke rises over a fuel tank following an alleged drone attack in Sevastopol, Crimea. Photo: Reuters
Smoke rises over a fuel tank following an alleged drone attack in Sevastopol, Crimea. Photo: Reuters

A Ukrainian military intelligence official said more than 10 tanks of oil products with a capacity of about 40,000 tonnes intended for use by Russia’s Black Sea Fleet were destroyed, RBC Ukraine reported.

The strike came as Ukraine prepares for a long-promised counter offensive to push Russian forces back from territory they seized since invading in February 2022.

Ukraine says control of all its legal territory, including Crimea, is a key condition for any peace deal. Russian forces occupied the peninsula in 2014.

Local resident Irina Vovk, 38, embraces her neighbour while meeting outside their houses destroyed by shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine. Photo: Reuters
Local resident Irina Vovk, 38, embraces her neighbour while meeting outside their houses destroyed by shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

Moscow has accused Kyiv of sending waves of aerial and seaborne drones to attack Crimea.

Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhaev said only one drone hit the oil tanks.

“The enemy … wanted to take Sevastopol by surprise, as usual, by staging a sneak attack in the morning,” Razvozhaev wrote on the Telegram app. Russian firefighters had shown how to defeat a major blaze “and prevent a catastrophe”, he added.

Local residents carry belongings out of their house destroyed by shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine. Photo: Reuters
Local residents carry belongings out of their house destroyed by shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

Ukraine lacks longer-range missiles that can reach targets in places such as Sevastopol, but has been developing drones to overcome this hurdle.

Ukrainian officials do not usually claim responsibility for explosions at military sites in Crimea, although they sometimes celebrate them using euphemistic language.

Andriy Yusov, a Ukrainian military official, did not say Ukraine carried out the attack. Instead, he told RBC the blast was “God’s punishment” for a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Uman on Friday that killed 23 people.

Women react as they pay tribute to civilian people killed by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, at a strike site in the town of Uman, Cherkasy region, Ukraine April 29, 2023. Photo: Reuters
Women react as they pay tribute to civilian people killed by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, at a strike site in the town of Uman, Cherkasy region, Ukraine April 29, 2023. Photo: Reuters

]]> World https://english.aaj.tv/news/30319985 Wed, 03 May 2023 18:17:23 +0500 none@none.com (Reuters) A still image from a video shows smoke rising following an alleged drone attack on oil depot in Sevastopol, Crimea, April 29, 2023. Photo:Reuters