Regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said the drone struck a civilian minibus in Kherson, part of a continuing pattern of attacks on populated areas since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago.Hours later, another Russian attack targeted a second minibus in the city, wounding the driver, Prokudin said.

On Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, a separate Russian strike damaged port infrastructure in Odesa, though no casualties were reported.While civilian areas continued to come under fire, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces had taken control of the village of Myropillia in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, near the Russian border.

The battlefield claim could not be independently verified, and Ukrainian authorities did not immediately comment.The roughly 1,250-kilometer front line remains largely static despite months of fighting, with U.S.-backed diplomatic efforts failing to secure a ceasefire.

Recent international focus on the Iran war has also shifted attention away from the conflict in Ukraine.In Russia, officials in the Krasnodar region said firefighters had extinguished a blaze at an oil terminal in the Black Sea port city of Tuapse that broke out Friday following a Ukrainian strike.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted the Tuapse refinery and export terminal in recent weeks as part of a broader campaign aimed at disrupting Russian oil exports, a major source of wartime revenue for the Kremlin.

The economic effect of those strikes remains uncertain, however, as higher global oil prices linked to the Iran war and a partial easing of U.S. sanctions have helped offset some of the pressure on Moscow’s energy revenues.

Authorities in Russia’s Krasnodar region said no injuries were reported, but emergency crews were deployed to contain the blaze at the port, which has become a repeated target because of its major oil terminal and refinery infrastructure.

“In Tuapse, as a result of a drone attack by the Kyiv regime, a fire broke out on the territory of the seaport terminal,” the regional emergency headquarters said in a statement on Telegram.Officials said 128 firefighters and 41 emergency vehicles were sent to the site to tackle the fire.

The latest strike comes days after a major drone attack on Tuesday triggered a large blaze at the Tuapse refinery, forcing a production shutdown and causing oil leakage into nearby coastal waters. The refinery fire was extinguished on Thursday morning, according to local Governor Veniamin Kondratyev.

A state of emergency has remained in place in the area since Tuesday as authorities continue cleanup operations along the Black Sea coastline.Emergency workers said on Thursday they had identified five additional oil-contaminated sections of coast. In total, officials reported removing 12,600 cubic meters of polluted material from beaches and surrounding areas.

The environmental fallout has disrupted daily life in Tuapse, with local authorities advising residents not to drink tap water or use natural spring water as a precaution and urging people to limit time outdoors due to elevated benzene levels in the air.

Russia’s consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor recommended residents keep windows closed and avoid prolonged outdoor exposure. May holiday celebrations and large public events were canceled.The official reassurances triggered criticism online from residents who questioned statements that the situation remained safe.

“How about she comes to visit us and tries our fresh air?” one social media user wrote in response to comments by Rospotrebnadzor chief Anna Popova, who said the situation posed no health risks.

Tuapse, a major Black Sea export point for Russian oil products, has faced repeated attacks as Ukraine intensifies long-range drone operations targeting Russia’s energy infrastructure.Kyiv has increasingly focused strikes on refineries, ports and fuel depots deep inside Russian territory, seeking to disrupt one of Moscow’s main sources of war financing as global oil prices remain elevated during the Iran conflict.

Ukrainian drones also struck an oil refinery near the Russian city of Perm on Thursday, marking the second consecutive attack on oil facilities in the Ural region.Ukraine’s military separately said it had targeted a refinery in Russia’s southern Orenburg region, roughly 1,500 km from the Ukrainian border, underlining Kyiv’s growing capacity for long-range attacks.

Russia has not independently confirmed the extent of damage from those strikes.Ukraine says its campaign against Russian energy infrastructure is a response to sustained Russian attacks on Ukrainian power plants, fuel depots and heating systems, which have caused widespread blackouts and civilian hardship, particularly during winter.

Moscow and Kyiv have both escalated attacks on energy assets as the war enters another prolonged phase, turning fuel infrastructure into one of the central battlegrounds of the conflict.

Zelensky said Kyiv had deployed several hundred military specialists to the Middle East following the outbreak of conflict involving Iran, aiming to share its experience in countering drone threats and safeguarding maritime routes.

“Ukrainian military personnel are taking part in consultations on the further operation of the Strait of Hormuz. Safe navigation is a global value; we know this from our experience defending the Black Sea,” Zelensky said in his evening address.

Ukraine has relied on asymmetric tactics and technological innovations during its war with Russia, including the use of naval drones, to counter attempts to restrict access to the Black Sea, a critical corridor for its economy and military operations.

Zelensky said interest in Ukraine’s defense capabilities is expanding beyond Europe, with diplomats receiving requests from Asian countries seeking cooperation on maritime security and related technologies.He did not identify the countries involved but said officials had been instructed to engage on the requests promptly.

Ukraine’s participation in Hormuz-related discussions reflects growing international focus on securing key maritime chokepoints amid ongoing geopolitical tensions affecting global energy and trade flows.

State news agencies TASS and RIA, citing the ministry, said the aircraft lost communication before going down on the Black Sea peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

The ministry said the dead included 23 passengers and six crew members, with no survivors reported.“The An-26 aircraft, with which communication was lost earlier, crashed into a cliff,” TASS quoted officials at the crash site as saying.

Authorities located the wreckage in Crimea, though further operational details were not immediately disclosed.Russia’s defense ministry did not provide additional comment outside regular business hours.

RIA news agency reported that, according to an initial assessment, technical problems were believed to have caused the crash.

No confirmation was given on whether an official investigation had been launched or if other factors were being examined.

The An-26 is a Soviet-era twin-engine turboprop widely used for military transport and logistics operations.

The captain of the Turkish-flagged Kafkametler had reported on Sunday morning that the ship was drifting toward a breakwater off Eregli, in northwest Turkey’s Zonguldak province, the provincial governor’s office said earlier.

Yerlikaya said the ship sunk after hitting the breakwater. The region was hit by powerful storms on Sunday and the governor’s office said the bad weather prevented air and sea vessels from carrying out searches.

“When the adverse weather conditions improve, search and rescue activities will start immediately,” Yerlikaya told reporters.

It’s reported that, UK-based Sayed Z Bukhari who is a Special Assistant to the Pakistan’s PM for Overseas Pakistanis, paid a brief visit to Israel in the last week of November, and he also talked about Pakistan’s participation in a joint naval exercise “Sea Breeze 2021” in the Black Sea.

It added that, Bukhari arrived at Ben Gurion Airport from Islamabad on a connecting flight to London, taking advantage of his British passport. No sooner he landed, he was transferred to Tel Aviv, where he met with senior officials in Israel’s Foreign Ministry. He then conveyed the message to the former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen from Pakistan PM Khan and Pakistani Chief of Staff Gen. Qamar Bajwa.

The Sea Breeze 2021 is a naval exercise that will be held between June 28 and July 10 in the Black Sea and will be cohosted by the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet and the Ukrainian Navy.

Israel will take part in the international exercise alongside Muslim countries, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey.

“Pakistan is one of the countries participating in the Sea Breeze exercise and the Pakistani military in Ukraine will arrive to be an observer”, the Pakistan Navy said.

The maneuvers in the Black Sea will involve over 5,000 troops, 32 vessels, 40 aircraft, and 18 diving and commando teams.

The historical naval exercise will have forces from 32 nations, namely the United States, Ukraine, Britain, Israel, Albania, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Morocco, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.