Authorities in Russia’s Krasnodar region reported a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil refinery, this time causing a fire.
So far, no casualties have been reported at the Touapse oil refinery and the government says it has activated fire control.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry says its air defense and Black Sea Fleet destroyed 102 Ukrainian drones and six unmanned vessels overnight.
As a result of this attack, the governor of Sevastopol, in annexed Crimea, claims that an electrical substation was damaged.
“There will be remote outages,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
It says it has canceled categories “in all vocational high schools and kindergartens. “
As we reported last night, Ukraine claimed that the Kharkiv region had been targeted by drone strikes.
Now more has been revealed.
Public broadcaster Suspilne reports that the airstrike alert lasted more than 16 hours, the longest duration recorded since the start of the Russian invasion.
Governor Oleh Syniehubov said at least five drones hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, while Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the city’s Osnovyanskyi district was hit, sparking a fire.
There are no immediate reports of casualties or injuries and the air raid alert was lifted early Friday, after a missile alert was also activated.
Welcome to our war policy in Ukraine.
This is the second day of Vladimir Putin’s state stopover in China after a summit with Xi Jinping yesterday, during which the two pledged to open a “new era” of partnership and signed a 7,000-word joint document reaffirming deepening ties.
The Russian president is in Harbin, in the northeast of the country, where he is expected to participate in industry and cooperation forums and meet with academics from an engineering university.
The U. S. ignored the latest from the Chinese and Russian leaders, which included a warning about nuclear war, as “nothing new. “
In news from the last 24 hours:
That’s it for our updates on the war in Ukraine tonight.
Scroll down the blog to find out what happened.
This map shows that much of eastern Ukraine is on air alert lately.
“The air defense is working, don’t leave the shelters and be careful,” Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synehubov said on Telegram.
Following our previous article, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov claimed that Kharkiv “is under missile attack. “
This was also reported by the regional governor Oleh Synehubov, who invited citizens to move to bomb shelters.
Synehubov said on Telegram that there has been no news about the victims lately.
A journalist in Kharkiv said he had “missed the number of explosions” that rocked the city.
According to authorities, at least five Russian drones attacked the city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, and a fire broke out.
Regional governor Oleh Synehubov reported the drone strike and said the city remained in danger.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the Osnovianskyi district was hit and a fire started.
None reported any casualties.
The city of Kharkiv has been under general fire in recent weeks, while thousands of people have been forced to flee the Kharkiv region after Russian troops launched a stunning incursion last week.
Relations between Russia and China are under scrutiny as Vladimir Putin visits the country in a largely symbolic visit.
For Xi Jinping, this is a question of power, writes our Asia correspondent, Nicole Johnston.
You can watch Nicole’s full here. . .
“Nothing new. “
Here’s what the U. S. has to say about the signing, through Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, of a joint statement on deepening the strategic partnership between their two countries.
“This is nothing new,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news conference tonight, adding that Washington had been “very clear” about its position on the issue.
“We find it unacceptable that Chinese corporations are helping Putin wage this war against Ukraine. We have been very transparent about this. And if China claims to have peace in Europe, it can no longer face the greatest risk to European security. “She said.
Jean-Pierre rejected the question of whether the U. S. had the strength to convince China to stop supporting Russia.
Vladimir Putin arrived in the Chinese city of Harbin for the second day of his state after spending Thursday at an assembly in Beijing with Xi Jinping (a reminder that China is several hours ahead, meaning it’s now early in the morning).
The northeastern city, which borders Russia’s Far East, has cultural and ancient ties to Russia.
During his stay, Putin is expected to attend industry and cooperation forums and meet with academics at the Harbin Institute of Technology.
Earlier, the Russian president and Xi reaffirmed their “unlimited partnership and criticized the US military’s alliances in Asia and the Pacific. “
Putin thanked the Chinese leader for Beijing’s peace proposal on the war in Ukraine, which Kyiv and the West have rejected.