Blasts rock Russia-annexed Crimea as sirens blare across Ukraine

Multiple blasts have rocked Russian-annexed Crimea with a pro-Moscow official accusing Kyiv of launching more than 10 drone attacks

Multiple blasts have rocked Russian-annexed Crimea with a pro-Moscow official accusing Kyiv of launching more than 10 drone attacks, as air raid sirens also blared for several hours overnight across most of Ukraine.

The alleged drone attacks on Sunday (May 7) came as the United Nations nuclear chief warned of “dangerous” conditions around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, and the head of the Wagner paramilitary force called on Moscow to let Chechen fighters relieve his forces at the front-line city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

Officials and media said Russian air defence systems had repelled the Ukrainian drone attacks and that at least three of the uncrewed vehicles were downed over the port city of Sevastopol in Crimea.

“No objects [in Sevastopol] were damaged,” said Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, on the Telegram messaging app.

There were no immediate details of any damage from the attacks elsewhere on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Baza, a Telegram channel with links to Russia’s law enforcement agencies, reported earlier on Sunday that there were no casualties in what it said was a series of attacks on Crimea.