Ukraine denies deadly strike on Donetsk as Russia steps up anti-drone defence

Kyiv and Moscow traded accusations over the deadly shelling of the occupied city of Donetsk, as Moscow said its military would step up efforts to thwart drone attacks following a spate of apparent Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy and weapons facilities.

“The strike that took place yesterday on rows of shops in Donetsk was a monstrous act of terrorism,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday of an attack that killed 28 civilians and injured 30, according to Moscow-installed officials in eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military’s Tavria command, which operates in the partly occupied Donetsk region, denied its forces were involved in the strike.

“We responsibly declare that forces under the [Tavria] command ... did not in this case conduct combat operations,” the military grouping wrote on social media. “Donetsk is Ukraine! Russia will have to answer for the Ukrainian lives that have been taken.”

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Russian officials said a fire at a large fuel facility near Saint Petersburg was finally extinguished on Monday following a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday that forced the plant to halt at least some of its operations.

Last Friday, a big oil refinery in Russia’s Bryansk region was set ablaze by a drone strike, and sources in Kyiv’s GUR military intelligence service say its drones have also hit a Russian arms factory and gunpowder manufacturer in recent days.

“The Kyiv regime continues to show its bestial face. They are striking civilian infrastructure,” Mr Peskov said. “The defence ministry and air defence units are taking all necessary measures to prevent such attacks.”

The administration of Leningrad region, which has Russia’s second city, Saint Petersburg, as its capital, said “a high-alert regime has been declared at critical infrastructure facilities” in all areas of the province: “Security units and law enforcement agencies received orders to destroy drones if they are detected in adjacent territories.”

Ukraine said it shot down all eight explosive “Shahed” drones fired by Russia in the early hours of Monday. Iran has supplied thousands of the so-called kamikaze or suicide drones to Moscow, which is now believed to be making its own version of the weapon.

Meanwhile, Kyiv and Warsaw pledged to continue their close co-operation and overcome differences as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy hosted new Polish prime minister Donald Tusk for talks in his nation’s capital.

“There are some conflicts of interest and we will consult [over] them in a spirit of friendship to resolve any differences as quickly as possible,” Mr Tusk said.

“For me it is very important to show every sign of Poland being Ukraine’s most reliable, most solid ally in this deadly battle with evil.”

Polish truckers have agreed recently to end a months-long blockade of border crossing with Ukraine over what they said was unfair economic competition from their Ukrainian counterparts.

Farmers in Poland, and other EU states bordering Ukraine, have also complained about the volume and low price of goods coming from the embattled country.

[ Zelenskiy calls Trump’s rhetoric on Ukraine’s war with Russia ‘very dangerous’ ]

In an apparent dig at the nationalist-populist leaders of Hungary and Slovakia, who are blocking EU funding for Ukraine, Mr Tusk said: “Today, anyone in the free world who pretends to be neutral, who pretends to have an equal distance or presents an equal distance to Ukraine and to Russia, deserves the darkest place in the political hell.”

Mr Zelenskiy said Poland had offered “a new military aid package” and a loan to facilitate “larger-scale arms purchases for Ukrainian needs” and was discussing “opportunities for future joint arms production” with Kyiv.

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