Multiple Explosions Across Crimea, Major Oil Refinery Fire Reported After Ukrainian Attacks

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The Kremlin has responded after a car bomb in Moscow reportedly killed a Russian general.

Damir Davydov, the head of the Russian defence ministry’s missile and artillery wing, was reportedly killed in a car explosion in Balashikha at 5.30 am on Tuesday. Russian investigators have not yet named the victim of the bombing but opened an investigation into the attack.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there had been an explosion but that the details could not be disclosed while an investigation was ongoing.

"An explosion took place, but the details, as you understand, are not subject to disclosure in connection with the investigation that is underway," Peskov said. "Of course, this is a matter for our special services."

Ukraine has not issued a comment on his death so far, though Kyiv has claimed responsibility for several attacks on Russian generals since the start of Vladimir Putin’s war.

Another car bombing took place in southwestern Moscow, attempting to target an employee of a scientific production enterprise.

Investigators arrested two suspects, reporting that a teenage girl was told by unidentified people to pick up the bomb and handed it to a teenage boy who placed it on the car along with a GPS tracker, the committee said.

Ukraine police chief says Russia recruits young women to kill Ukrainian servicemen

Ukraine's police chief has accused Russia of ⁠recruiting teenage Ukrainian girls to kill Ukrainian military personnel, following the arrest of a 17-year-old suspected of murdering a serviceman on the instructions of a Russian operative.

In an interview published on Wednesday by Ukrainian media outlet Cenzor.NET, national police ⁠chief Ivan Vyhivskyi said there had ​this ⁠year been six cases of contract killings arranged via the Telegram messaging app, one of which was prevented.

"We are talking ⁠about planned murders organised by the special services of the aggressor ​state ⁠and carried out by Ukrainian citizens," ‌he said.

Russia's FSB security service was not immediately available for comment.

Russian security services accuse Kyiv of recruiting Russians for bombings in Russia, ‌and Ukrainian military intelligence has claimed responsibility for ‌assassinating several senior Russian officers since Moscow's 2022 invasion.

Vyhivskyi said Russian recruiters found young women via messaging platforms, promising them easy money and coordinating their actions remotely.

The young women ⁠were instructed to search for Ukrainian military personnel on dating websites, and received money from their handlers to rent apartments to meet them, Vyhivskyi said.

They were told of places where they could obtain methadone, a synthetic opioid used as a painkiller that can be lethal in high doses, for lacing drinks, he said.

More than 1,100 Ukrainians have ‌been accused of committing arson, terrorism or sabotage in betrayal ​of their country during the war, Ukraine's security service has ‌said.

Police detained a 17-year-old woman ⁠in the western region of Zhytomyr last week following the ⁠poisoning of a serviceman and said she had been communicating via Telegram with a man ‌who was likely a ​Russian security services agent.

Shweta Sharma11 June 2026 06:54

China raises concerns over planned EU sanctions targeting firms over Russian war

China has criticised planned EU sanctions targeting Chinese firms accused of supporting Russia's war effort.

According to AFP, the European Union is preparing measures that would add 14 companies from mainland China and Hong Kong to a list of firms barred from purchasing EU goods.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Beijing “has always firmly opposed illegal unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law” and warned that China would “closely follow” developments and “take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”

Shweta Sharma11 June 2026 06:49

Multiple explosions across Crimea in large-scale attack

Multiple explosions have been reported across Russian-occupied Crimea overnight, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing local monitoring channels.

Telegram channels covering the war claimed that several sites linked to the Russian military were targeted in a Ukrainian drone and missile attack.

The pro-Ukrainian Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported strikes on bridges near Armiansk and Krasnoperekopsk in northern Crimea, key routes connecting the peninsula to mainland Ukraine.

"It appears there are no intact bridges left on the overland approaches to the peninsula," the channel wrote.

In Sevastopol, residents reported missile launches, repeated explosions, smoke over Omega Bay and a large fire near Striletska Bay.

The channel said several impacts were recorded near military facilities, including areas linked to Russia's Black Sea Fleet and local air defence systems.

The reports could not be independently verified.

Shweta Sharma11 June 2026 06:22

Russian strike on Ukraine's Pavlohrad injures 12

A ​Russian strike on an apartment building in the southeastern ⁠city of Pavlohrad on Wednesday injured 12 people, including an ⁠elderly resident ​in ⁠a serious condition, the regional governor ⁠said.

Oleksandr Hanzha, writing ​on ⁠Telegram, said ‌the strike triggered a fire and photos ‌posted online showed ‌rescuers using extension ladders to help residents ⁠of higher levels of the five-storey building billowing smoke.

The facade of the building in the city ‌east of Dnipro ​had been blackened ‌and windows ⁠smashed.

Shweta Sharma11 June 2026 05:57

In pictures: Fire at Sevastopol museum after 'Ukrainian drone strike'

Firefighters extinguished a fire at the "Panorama of the Defence of Sevastopol" museum, which, according to local authorities, was damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack.

A fire broke out in occupied Sevastopol early on Wednesday morning when an air-raid warning was in effect.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-appointed head of the city, said the roof of the Defence of Sevastopol 1854-1855 panorama building was on fire.

"The situation is really difficult: it is already clear that the Franz Roubaud Panorama has been virtually destroyed… Barbarians and inhumane people deliberately struck what is dear to us, trying to destroy our essence,” he said.

Shweta Sharma11 June 2026 05:38

Zelensky hails Ukrainian military's 'mid-strikes' reaching Russian military logistics

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv's expanding drone campaign is now capable of reaching Russian military logistics across occupied Ukrainian territory.

“In recent months, we are especially grateful for the mid-strikes: Russian military logistics throughout the entire depth of the temporarily occupied territory are now within reach of Ukrainian drones,” Zelensky said.

His remarks came after Ukraine said it had struck the Russian-occupied port of Mariupol, the latest in a series of attacks targeting supply routes linking Russian-held southern Ukraine to Crimea.

The attack on the port, which Ukraine's military said plunged the site into a blackout, followed two strikes earlier this week on a bridge linking the Russian-occupied Kherson region to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

On Thursday, authorities in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, just across from Crimea, said a fire broke out ‌in the area surrounding the Afipsky refinery as a result of falling drone debris as defence systems were ​repelling an air attack.

Three people were injured after falling drone debris caused fire in an apartment ‌building in the city of Krasnodar and a drone attack ⁠on the nearby Seversky district, regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on Telegram, without providing further details.

Another oil ⁠refinery, the Ilsky plant, is located in the area. That followed a massive Wednesday drone attack on Russia's Volga region of Samara, more than 900km (550 ‌miles) from the front line, which, ​according to sources, forced state oil giant Rosneft to halt processing ‌at its Kuibyshev oil refinery.

Shweta Sharma11 June 2026 05:26

Zelensky declares 11 June as the ‘Day of the Unmanned Systems Forces’

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, 11 June 2026, declared the country's first-ever "Day of the Unmanned Systems Forces", which will be marked annually to honour the military branch responsible for drone operations.

“For the first time in the world, such a branch of the military was created, in Ukraine,” said Zelensky. “We are developing the USF to the max, and it is Ukrainians who have proved that through technology, ingenuity, and courage, we can change the nature of warfare.”

He said in just one year since the establishment of the USF Grouping, Russian targets of various levels worth nearly $40bn have been struck.

“Most importantly, these are different types of strikes, and each one expands our ability to save lives.”

Shweta Sharma11 June 2026 04:59

Macron invites Zelensky to G7 summit

French president Emmanuel Macron has confirmed that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains from 15–17 June, saying his participation is "very important" to help rebuild consensus among Kyiv's allies.

Speaking at the Elysee Palace, Macron said support for Ukraine would be a key focus of the summit, with leaders expected to discuss continued backing for Kyiv as well as efforts to advance peace negotiations with Russia.

The summit will bring together the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Macron also said discussions would address the conflict involving Iran, with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates invited to a separate session focused on the Strait of Hormuz.

Zelensky's attendance comes as Ukraine reports successes on the battlefield and in long-range strikes against Russian targets, while continuing to face intensified Russian missile attacks and shortages of air defence systems.

Zelensky said preparations were underway in Ukraine for the G7 along with other high-profile diplomatic conferences in the coming weeks.

"We are also preparing for the crucial summer summits – the EU summit, the G7 summit, and the Nato summit. Each of these venues should be effective for Ukraine, and we are preparing solutions," the president said.

Shweta Sharma11 June 2026 04:49

Major oil refinery in southern Russia on fire after Ukrainian attack, officials say

A huge fire broke out at Russia's Afipsky refinery in southern Krasnodar ⁠after Ukrainian drone strikes overnight.

The regional operational ‌headquarters said the blaze was a result ⁠of falling drone debris ⁠as defence ​systems ⁠were repelling ‌an air attack.

It is one of the largest oil processing facilities in southern Russia, producing gasoline, diesel fuel, gas condensate distillates, heavy petroleum residues, and sulfur.

A ⁠gas pipeline was also damaged after drone debris had fallen in the residential ‌private sector, ​the ‌regional governor said, ⁠adding there were ⁠no casualties.

Several residents said the refinery was on fire following a Ukrainian attack, according to Telegram monitoring channel Exilenova-Plus.

The Afipsky refinery, which accounts for about 2% of Russia's refining capacity, has previously been targeted by Ukrainian attacks.

Shweta Sharma11 June 2026 04:18

Ukraine strikes disrupt fuel supplies in Russian-held Crimea

Ukraine's strikes on Russian logistics routes have disrupted fuel supplies in occupied Crimea, with authorities in Sevastopol suspending petrol rationing coupons after tanker trucks were unable to reach the city.

The governor of Sevastopol in Russian-held Crimea, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said that petrol rationing coupons could temporarily not be honoured.

It coincided with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky remarks that Kyiv's long-running campaign targeting energy assets in Russia and the lands it annexed had proved its worth.

Crimea, annexed by ⁠Russia in 2014, long before Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, ​introduced ⁠rationing for fuel last month because of shortages in the peninsula.

"Unfortunately, oil tanker trucks were unable to come to the city tonight," Razvozhayev wrote on Telegram, adding that priority for refuelling on Thursday would be ⁠given to public transport and utilities, emergency and government vehicles.

"I am addressing everyone: there is no point in ​lining up at... ⁠the gas stations tomorrow," he said late ‌on Wednesday, adding that existing fuel rationing coupons would be cancelled and new ones issued on Thursday.

Over two dozen Ukrainian drones were downed in the early hours of Thursday in a fresh attack on Sevastopol, the peninsula's second-largest city and ‌home to Russia's Black Sea fleet, Razvozhayev later said on Telegram.

Shweta Sharma11 June 2026 04:09