Ukraine launched a major strike on a military-linked oil depot in Sochi, Russia’s main resort city, where Putin is rebuilding one of his palaces. Some 30 huge explosions led to a massive inferno at the facility close to the main airport often used by the Russian dictator.
The Lyutyi long-range drones led to major disruption at the airport, with more than 50 tourist planes diverted or delayed, and waiting passengers evacuated to an underground bomb shelter. A Russian propagandist Valeria Yaronovetskaya caught in the chaos complained: “It seems I won’t be flying anywhere…Drone attack.
“It even seems like it’s right on the airport. Air defence is working. The noise is so loud that the windows are shaking…”
She said: “Everyone is evacuated to the basement floor. There’s nowhere to sit here. And I’m thirsty… I didn’t buy any water before going through the screening. And now I’m suffering…”
The strike was on a depot with a 76,000 cubic feet capacity, and a major fire-fighting operation was underway to stop the blaze spreading.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin bombed a key bridge in the Ukrainian frontline city of Kherson as he defies Donald Trump and seeks major new territorial gains in the war. Footage shows Russia destroying a vital road crossing on the Dnipro River, severing a main artery to the Korabel district of the city.
Evacuation from this district was announced in a significant blow to Ukraine, which is yet another strike on civilian infrastructure by Putin, who is seeking to control the entire Kherson region as a war aim. The bridge strike was with guided bombs. A day earlier two people were killed in Russian shelling of Kherson.
Amid a new surge in fighting in the war, there were reports of blasts and smoke close to the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in occupied Ukraine.
This led to a warning from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the combatants to halt strikes close to Europe’s largest nuclear plant.
“Any attack in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant – regardless of the intended target – poses potential risks also for nuclear safety and must be avoided,” said Director-General Rafael Grossi.
“Once again, I call for maximum military restraint near nuclear facilities to prevent the continued risk of a nuclear accident.”
Ukraine hit the Russian city of Voronezh in a drone strike, leading to four wounded in a residential complex, and also sent military drones to Nizhny Novgorod and the Leningrad region, disrupting air traffic in St Petersburg.
And seven were injured in a Russian missile strike hitting private homes in Mykolaiv.
In overnight strikes, Russia used seven missiles and 73 drones, according to the Ukrainian defence ministry.
The fighting came after Donald Trump sent two nuclear submarines “closer to Russia”, accusing the Kremlin of threatening war with the US.
Trump’s ten-day deadline for Putin to engage in a ceasefire and peace talks expires on 8 August.
The Kremlin dictator has shown no indication he will stop his attempted invasion of Ukraine – or his terror strikes on civilians – despite the threat of major new sanctions on this country, and others trading oil with Russia.