Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

Russia and Ukraine traded retaliatory strikes over the weekend after another Russian oil terminal was attacked on Sunday, as were the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk and nine Ukrainian regions.

Moscow accused Kyiv of launching a missile strike on a market in Donetsk city, killing at least 25 people and wounding 20 others, Russian officials said. Ukrainian armed forces operating in the region denied they had carried out the strike, stating that they “did not conduct any combat operations with means of destruction.”

Elsewhere, a fire broke out at a terminal of Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas producer Novatek on the Baltic Sea, a regional official said on Sunday, amid reports of drone sightings in the area. Several other Russian oil terminals have been targeted in recent days, in the Bryansk and Leningrad regions.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces shelled nine regions in the country on Sunday.

“In this single day, the Russian inhumans shelled over a hundred cities, towns, our Ukrainian villages in nine regions: from the Chernihiv region to the Sumy region, Mykolaiv region, Kirovohrad region, our regions. Particularly severe Russian strikes are in the Donetsk region,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.

Describing 60 clashes yesterday, Zelenskyy said the most intense fighting was in the Avdiivka area, as well as in Bakhmut, Maryinka and Kupiansk. “There have been more than 50 Russian shelling incidents just from multiple rocket launcher systems, and also dozens of airstrikes and missile strikes,” he said.

Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilian infrastructure. CNBC was unable to immediately verify the battlefield reports.

— Holly Ellyatt

A fire broke out at a Baltic Sea terminal belonging to Novatek, Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas producer, after a suspected Ukrainian drone attack, forcing the company to suspend some operations there.

The Ust-Luga complex, located on the Gulf of Finland about 170 km (110 miles) west of St. Petersburg, processes stable gas condensate into light and heavy naphtha, jet fuel, fuel oil and gasoil, according to Novatek’s website. The port is used to ship processed products to international markets.

The Interfax-Ukraine news agency, citing unnamed sources, said the fire was the result of a special operation carried out by Ukraine’s security services.

“The Ust-Luga Oil terminal in the Leningrad region is an important facility for the enemy. Fuel is refined there, which, among other things, is also supplied to Russian troops,” it cited one source as saying.

“A successful attack on such a terminal not only causes economic damage to the enemy, depriving the occupiers of the opportunity to earn money to wage war in Ukraine, but also significantly complicates the logistics of fuel for the Russian military.”

Reuters could not confirm that the fire resulted from a Ukrainian drone attack.

— Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was worried by the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House, branding Trump’s claim that he could stop Ukraine’s war with Russia in 24 hours as “very dangerous.”

In an interview with the U.K.’s Channel 4 News that aired Friday, Zelenskyy invited the former president and front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination to visit Kyiv, but only if Trump delivers on his promise.

“Donald Trump, I invite you to Ukraine, to Kyiv. If you can stop the war during 24 hours, I think it will be enough to come,” Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian leader also shared his concern about the U.S. taking unilateral action that failed to consider Ukraine’s perspective, noting the dearth of details around Trump’s “peace plan.”

— Associated Press