Ukrainian drone attack sets fire at Russian oil warehouse, Zelensky announces prisoner exchange
Russian officials said Sunday that overnight, Ukrainian drone attacks on an oil warehouse near Russia’s Black Sea resort triggered a fire.
Krasnodar Region Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said in a telegram that more than 120 firefighters tried to put out the fire, triggered by debris from knocking down drones hit the fuel tank. Videos on social media appear to show huge smoke above the oil warehouse.
The Russian Civil Aviation Administration Rosaviatsia temporarily suspended flights to Sochi Airport.
In the north, authorities in the Voronitz region reported four people injured in another Ukrainian drone strike.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defense measures shot down 93 Ukrainian drones across Russia and the Black Sea until Sunday.
Strike in Ukraine, southern Russia
Meanwhile, in southern Ukraine, Russian missile strikes attacked a residential area in Mykolaiv city, injured seven people, according to the state emergency services.
The Ukrainian Air Force said on Sunday that Russia launched 76 drones and seven missiles against Ukraine. It said 60 drones and one missile were intercepted, but another 16 missiles and six missiles hit targets at eight locations.
Drone and missile attacks in Russia killed 31 people, including five children, and injured more than 150 people on Thursday, ending one of Ukraine’s deadliest weeks in recent months.
They are the deadline (August 8) for Russian President Vladimir Putin, which U.S. President Donald Trump paid Tuesday to make progress on peace efforts.
U.S. President Donald Trump appeared with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, telling reporters that he would raise the deadline on Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding: “We just can’t see any progress.”
Trump said Thursday that special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Russia to prompt Moscow to agree to a ceasefire in the war with Ukraine and threatened to threaten new economic sanctions if no progress is made.
Ukraine and Russia agree to prisoner swap
Ukraine and Russia agreed to exchange 1,200 prisoners after the latest talks held in Istanbul in July, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
He wrote on X: “There is an agreement to exchange 1,200 people, saying the list of individuals to be exchanged is working to “relieve our civilians back.”
Russia did not comment immediately.
Zelenskyy also said he discussed with top Ukrainian officials “the implementation of the agreement reached during the meeting with the Russian side of Istanbul and preparations for the new meeting.”
Each of the three rounds of talks between the two countries this year led to exchanges among prisoners, but there was no breakthrough in reaching the ceasefire.
