Deadly cross-border attacks escalate as Trump warns of looming deadline for Putin to end war
A massive fire is raging at an oil depot near Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi after what Russian officials say was a Ukrainian drone strike. The blaze, which broke out after debris hit a fuel tank, has forced Sochi’s airport to suspend flights as 127 firefighters battle the flames.
The strike was part of a wave of Ukrainian drone attacks over the weekend targeting facilities in Ryazan, Penza and Voronezh, with four injuries reported in Voronezh. Russia’s defence ministry claimed to have intercepted 93 drones overnight, including 60 over the Black Sea region.
Meanwhile, a Russian missile strike in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv destroyed homes and civilian infrastructure, leaving at least seven people injured, three of them hospitalized. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 83 drones and missiles overnight, with 61 shot down, but 16 drones and six missiles still hitting targets in eight locations.
The latest cross-border strikes come after one of the deadliest weeks in Ukraine since the war began, including an assault on Kyiv on Thursday that killed at least 31 people. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has renewed calls for stronger international sanctions on Moscow.
US President Donald Trump, who last month gave Russian President Vladimir Putin 50 days to end the war or face heavy tariffs, has now shortened the ultimatum twice with the latest deadline set for 8 August. Trump also signaled new sanctions targeting Russia’s oil exports may be imminent.
