Putin’s brutal revenge: Russia bombs blood bank in Kharkiv after Kremlin’s blunt threat of retaliation for Ukrainian drone strikes on warships

Vladimir Putin bombed a Ukrainian blood bank tonight in revenge for drone attacks on Russian warships in the Black Sea.

President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the deadly attack on a blood transfusion center in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkov region as a “war crime” as Moscow escalated its attacks in the war-torn country.

A separate attack hit a key factory, both attacks came hours after Kiev hit a Russian tanker in the Kerch Strait. The attacks were the latest since Moscow abandoned a deal last month that had secured Ukrainian grain exports despite the ongoing conflict.

A “guided aerial bomb” hit the center in Kupiansk, a town several tens of kilometers from the Russian border, Zelensky said.

“Rescuers are putting out the fire,” he wrote on social media, adding, “This war crime alone says it all about Russian aggression.”

The attack came shortly after Zelensky said Russian missiles hit a facility of Ukrainian aviation group Motor Sich, a manufacturer of aircraft and helicopter engines and other components.

It is one of several companies that have been requisitioned by the government since the invasion of Moscow. Motor Sich’s location is near Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine, about 300 kilometers southwest of Kiev. Home to a major Ukrainian air base, the region has been the target of regular Russian attacks in recent months.

In his evening speech, Zelensky remained defiant, insisting that “no matter how many such Russian attacks there are, they will still do nothing for the enemy.”

Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine claimed it had “blown up” a Russian tanker, the “SIG,” carrying fuel for Russian troops, a Ukrainian security source told AFP.

The tanker was hit south of the Kerch Strait at about 23:20 (2020 GMT) on Friday, Russia’s Federal Agency for Maritime and Inland Navigation said.

Footage shows how the 4,754-tonne SIG oil and chemical tanker was hit by a marine drone

The crew on board reported significant damage and flooding in the engine room of the 143-meter vessel after the strike

Pictured is the damage on board the SIG tanker after it was hit by the drone which saw the 11 crew suffer abrasions from broken glass

The ship was stuck at the waterline in the engine room area but was still afloat, the agency said.

In a video obtained by AFP that claims to show the attack, a ship can be seen approaching a large vessel before being disconnected.

The Ukrainian source said the “successful special operation,” involving a naval drone and explosives, was carried out jointly with the navy in Ukrainian territorial waters.

The SIG oil and chemical tanker is under US sanctions for supplying jet fuel to Russian troops in Syria who support President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia’s foreign ministry condemned the attack on a “civilian ship”, adding that the crew was not injured.

Footage shows a massive explosion of one of the ships in the port after Vladimir Putin’s forces reportedly deployed two warships to counter the attacks on Thursday night

Pictured is the Russian landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak (center) docked in a port after being damaged in a drone strike

Traffic on a key bridge across the Kerch Strait connecting the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland resumed early Saturday after a three-hour halt, according to the Telegram channel of Russia’s Highways Information Center.

Crimea has been devastated by several attacks during the war, but attacks have increased in recent weeks.

Russian troops shot down a drone over the sea near Sevastopol on Saturday, city governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.

Tensions in the Black Sea in general have increased since Russia withdrew from the agreement to protect grain exports through the shipping hub during the conflict.

Ukraine struck the ship Olenegorsky Gornyak at the Novorossiysk base in southern Russia on Friday, a Ukrainian security source told AFP, “to show that Ukraine can attack any Russian warship in that zone.”

Russia said it had repelled the attack attempt.

On the frontline, Russia said on Saturday it had captured the Novoselivske settlement in northeastern Ukraine, where Kiev said it was facing a growing number of attacks.

Images show how a maritime drone hits a Russian landing ship

Russian military footage showed Novoselivske completely destroyed, with clouds of white smoke rising over collapsing buildings.

Ukrainian army spokeswoman Ganna Malyar said on Friday that Russian forces wanted to divert Ukrainian resources east as Ukraine continues its counter-offensive in the south.

Ukraine launched a new effort to push back Russian troops in June, but has made only modest progress.

With both sides focused on winning on the battlefield, any chance of peace seems slim.

Saudi Arabia is nevertheless hosting talks about the war with representatives of nearly 40 countries – including China, India and South Africa – but not Russia.

Talks concluded on Saturday and, as expected, no final statement was released.

But a European source said there was agreement that respect for Ukraine’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty” should be “at the heart of any peace settlement”.