The Kremlin-backed head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, accused Ukraine on Monday of carrying out a deadly drone strike on the resort town of Foros, which killed three people and injured 16.
Aksyonov said the attack damaged the grounds of a sanatorium and a school, while debris from the downed drone sparked a fire near Yalta. Russia’s defence ministry described the incident as a “terrorist attack” and initially reported two fatalities.
Ukraine, meanwhile, reported that Russian forces launched 46 air strikes across its territory by late Sunday. Local officials in Zaporizhzhia said overnight bombings killed three people and injured two others, one critically.
Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional military administration, said Russian aircraft dropped “at least five” bombs on the southeastern city.
Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, has repeatedly been targeted by Ukrainian strikes, including on the bridge linking the peninsula to the Russian mainland. Kyiv maintains that Crimea remains part of its territory, while Moscow demands international recognition of its control.
The latest escalation comes weeks after US President Donald Trump met Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in separate talks. Trump suggested at the time that Ukraine would be unable to reclaim Crimea under any peace settlement.
Diplomatic progress has since stalled, with renewed violence highlighting the challenges of brokering a truce.