Crimea Oil Depot Hit in Suspected Ukrainian Drone Strike

Ukraine—A drone struck an oil depot in Crimea, according to the Russian-installed officials in the region, while Ukraine’s defense minister said the country was making its final preparations before the start of its long-awaited counteroffensive.

Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Moscow-installed governor of Crimea, which Russian forces seized from Ukraine in 2014, said that four fuel tanks in Sevastopol had been hit by two unmanned aerial vehicles, according to Russian state media. Videos of the scene showed huge plumes of black smoke billowing upward near the city’s port.

Mr. Razvozhaev said no one had been injured and the explosion wouldn’t affect the overall fuel supply. “Since the volume of fuel is large, it will take time to localize the fire,” he said.

Ukrainian officials didn’t immediately comment on the alleged drone attack. Explosions have repeatedly hit strategic points on the Crimean Peninsula—including an airfield and the Kerch Bridge, which connects the peninsula with Russia—in recent months, but Ukraine has only occasionally claimed responsibility.

The Sevastopol drone strike came a day after Moscow struck several areas of Ukraine with cruise missiles, including an apartment building in the central city of Uman, where at least 23 people were killed. At least two others were killed in a missile strike on Dnipro, bringing the total casualties to 25, including five children, according to Ukrainian officials.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address Friday that workers were still searching through the rubble in Uman. The city is primarily known as the site of an annual pilgrimage of Hasidic Jews.
“This proves once again that we can stop terror and save people only with weapons,” Mr. Zelensky said. “Air defense, modern aircraft, without which there is no fully effective air defense. Artillery, armored vehicles.”

So far, few Western countries have agreed to send jet fighters to Ukraine. However, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that many of the weapons pledged to the country earlier this year—including dozens of modern battle tanks—have now been delivered and crews are training on them before the country begins its counteroffensive.

“The training is coming to an end,” he said Friday in Kyiv, according to Ukrainian media. He said that once training is completed, crews will stay with the weapons. “We are ready,” he added.