South Ukraine city drone attack
Ukraine said the "strongest" shelling by Moscow so far of the southern city Mykolaiv killed a grain tycoon , as Russia claimed an attack from a drone wounded six personnel at the headquarters of its Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea.
Journalists witnessed intense Russian bombardment of the eastern town of Bakhmut after President Volodymyr Zelensky called for civilians to leave the front line Donetsk region bearing the brunt of the Kremlin's offensive.
Russian authorities in the Crimean Black Sea peninsula -- seized by Moscow from Ukraine in 2014 -- said a small explosive device from a commercial drone, likely launched nearby, hit the navy command in Sevastopol.
The local mayor blamed "Ukrainian nationalists" for the attack that forced the cancellation of festivities in the city marking Russia's annual holiday celebrating the navy.
But Ukraine's navy accused Russia of staging the attacks as a pretext to cancel the festivities.
"Russia fears holding a parade in the Black Sea, but announces a plan to dominate the high seas," said presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak.
The claim and counterclaim come as the dispute over which side struck a jail holding Ukrainian prisoners of war in Kremlin-controlled Olenivka, rumbled on, with Kyiv and Moscow trading blame.
Russia's defence ministry said it had invited the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations to visit the site "in the interests of an objective investigation".
