Blaze at St Petersburg oil sites as Kyiv launches more than 1,000 drones at Russia

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By The Associated Press | Posted by TOE Ukrainian attacks set an oil export terminal ablaze in St. Petersburg on Sunday, as Kyiv launched more than 1,000 drones across Russia in one of its largest ever aerial bombardments. The attack comes amid deepening tensions between Ukraine and Washington , with U.S. President Donald Trump criticizing Kyiv for its strikes on Russian oil infrastructure. One person was killed and five more were wounded in the attack, which sparked fires at both the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city’s Ruchi oil depot, said local Gov. Alexander Beglov. A logistics center belonging to Russian retailer Ozon and a data center for local tech giant VK were also targeted, both companies confirmed. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Sunday that its forces had destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, as well as the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the Black Sea. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state n...
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Somali army takes control of strategic city, regional leader resigns

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 Somalia’s national army ​took control of the biggest city in South West state ‌on Monday, prompting the regional leader to resign two weeks after his administration said it was severing ties with the federal government.

The strategic city of Baidoa, ​the administrative capital of South West state, is home to ​international peacekeepers and humanitarian agencies in an area affected by ⁠drought, conflict and displacement.

“Federal forces have taken over Baidoa, … it is ​now calm … but it looks like a ghost town,” local elder ​Adan Hussein told Reuters.

A shopkeeper in Baidoa, Hussein Abdullahi, said federal troops were in control of his part of the city, which is about 245 km (150 miles) ​northwest of the capital Mogadishu.

South West state president Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed ​Laftagareen wrote in a statement on Facebook that he had resigned, days after ‌being ⁠re-elected for another five-year term.

Many residents have fled Baidoa over the past week and some aid agencies suspended activities, fearing clashes could erupt between the army and regional forces.

The dispute between South West state is ​the latest sign ​of strain ⁠in the Horn of Africa country’s fragile federal system, where disputes over elections and the balance of ​power between Mogadishu and regional administrations repeatedly open up ​political fault ⁠lines.

Laftagareen’s administration opposed constitutional amendments backed by the federal government.

Somalia’s federal information ministry said in a message read out on national television that “the ⁠former South ​West state administration … created political conflict”. It ​said federal forces had been welcomed in Baidoa on Monday.

SOURCE: REUTERS AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/EWy4X9j

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