To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Figure caption, Ukraine's military has shared video of a naval drone strike on a Russian tanker Ukraine's military has intensified its attacks near Russian-annexed Crimea, following up strikes on Russia's land corridor to the peninsula by targeting maritime supply routes as well. Ukraine's drone force commander Robert Brovdi, also known as Magyar, says at least 25 ships have been hit and set on fire over the past four days in the Sea of Azov, the inland sea linked to the Black Sea by the Kerch Strait. Such losses in so short a time are a clear blow to Russia's naval capability as well as Vladimir Putin's guarantee of maintaining fuel supplies. These attacks appear to be the latest phase of Ukraine's self-declared logistics lockdown which aims to choke off supplies and routes into and out of occupied Crimea.

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A resident inside Crimea has told the BBC the situation there is catastrophic, as Ukrainian drones strike oil refineries and power plants on the peninsula, as well as military targets. The strikes on Russian-annexed Crimea have increased significantly in recent weeks - partly to cut off supply lines to Russian troops attacking Ukraine from the south. Eastern Europe correspondent Sarah Rainsford explains why Kyiv is striking now and why the peninsula matters to Vladimir Putin personally. Updates from your News topics will appear in My News and in a collection on the News homepage .

In Russia, the impact of Ukraine's missile and drone strikes on energy infrastructure from Moscow to the Black Sea and beyond has long been evident. Drivers in the Russia-annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea banned from filling their tanks so priority can be given to military vehicles. But such is the gravity of the situation it has now been explicitly acknowledged by President Vladimir Putin for the first time. Over the weekend, Russia's president discussed the crisis with senior officials and oil executives. And in public remarks, he was unusually frank. You're well aware that problems persist for both motorists and businesses, he told the meeting.

Smoke rises from Crimea Bridge on Monday. The Ukrainian army is pounding supply routes and striking energy facilities across Crimea. Warsaw - For Yulia, a 23-year-old resident of Crimea, nights have become sleepless due to increased Ukrainian drone attacks on the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. Kyiv's army is pounding supply routes and striking energy facilities across the Black Sea territory -- a campaign it sees as fair retribution for Moscow's daily barrages of Ukrainian cities, and one that it hopes will turn the tide of the four-year war in its favor. On Thursday, the Moscow-installed governor of Crimea announced power cuts across the peninsula, which despite the war had been a popular holiday destination for Russians. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Is the war entering a new phase? At least five people have been killed in a Ukrainian attack on Russia and the Crimean peninsula as Kyiv steps up strikes, according to the Russian-appointed governor in the annexed region. Crimea Governor Sergey Aksyonov said two people, including a child, were killed and two others wounded following "overnight enemy attacks" into Thursday. Russia's defence ministry said 269 Ukrainian drones were downed over Russia and Crimea overnight. The head of the Krasnoarmeysk district in Krasnodar Krai said debris from a drone strike triggered an oil depot fire.

Is the war entering a new phase? Ukrainian strikes on Russian-occupied Crimea have triggered power outages in its largest city, Sevastopol, according to statements from both sides, as Kyiv intensifies attacks on the peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014. Crimea has been forced to suspend fuel sales to the public as Ukraine's army targets Russian logistics to the region and has hit a series of oil refineries and depots across southern Russia that provide supplies. "The enemy is once again striking treacherously, attempting to deprive us of normal living conditions and sow panic," he posted. He said some areas of the city - where temperatures are approaching 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) - would be without power until at least Wednesday evening.

Is the war entering a new phase? Gas sales in Russian-controlled Crimea have halted after Ukrainian drone strikes on the peninsula's supply route. Drivers are now looking for other modes of transport. Colombia's De La Espriella claims victory on preliminary results US and Iran meet for'tense' but'constructive' ceasefire talks What are the end goals of Iran-US negotiations?

Ukrainian drones have struck a historic museum in Russia-annexed Sevastopol in Crimea, igniting a roof fire, as Russian authorities slashed nighttime train schedules amid intensifying air attacks across the peninsula and deep into Russia. Sevastopol's Russian-installed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, announced the damage on Telegram early on Wednesday. "This building is not just a museum, it is a symbol of resilience, which has repeatedly taken the blows of the enemy." Razvozhayev said that during World War II's Siege of Sevastopol, "the Panorama building was subjected to massed bombing by German aviation". He declared: "The enemy will pay for this sacrilege!"

The Ukrainian military is stepping up its campaign to destroy vehicles supplying Russian forces along crucial roads in occupied Ukraine using new AI drone technology, experts say. BBC Verify has confirmed footage of at least 14 incidents published in the past week of vehicles carrying food, fuel and ammunition being targeted along critical routes connecting Russia to Crimea and other occupied territories in southern Ukraine. Ukraine is starting to regain more ground than it is losing for the first time since 2023, analysis from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) indicates. After more than four years of war and increased Russian occupation of eastern and southern Ukraine, neither side has gained any significant ground in recent months. Experts say recent drone technology advancements, including the AI-enabled Hornet system, have allowed Ukraine to attack Russian targets travelling to the front lines at greater distances and with increased accuracy.

A Ukrainian flying ace is leveraging his aerobatics skills to protect his countrymen from nightly attacks. The most challenging part of an international aerobatics contest is the Free Unknown. Pilots arrive at a competition after having polished sequences of loops, stall turns, and barrel rolls. But for the Free Unknown section they learn which assortment of tricks they must perform only a day in advance. Contestants plan out how they will string together the stipulated moves in the most pleasing fashion, but they cannot rehearse the routine, except in their minds. It's a test of imagination and airmanship that often decides the competition. In 2019, the World Intermediate Aerobatics Championship, which was held on an airfield in the Czech town of Břeclav, contained three Free Unknowns. The winner of the first was a twenty-five-year-old Ukrainian pilot named Timur Fatkullin. At the controls of his red-and-silver Extra 330LX--a nimble German sports plane--he made the unusual move of starting his sequence upside down. He then executed a complicated routine as if he'd practiced it for months. The Ukrainian team, boosted by Fatkullin's performance, won gold. Trevor Dugan, who served as a navigator with the R.A.F. in Afghanistan and Iraq, was on the British team, which took bronze. Fatkullin, he said, was "absolutely phenomenal." Not long after that championship, Fatkullin stopped entering aerobatics competitions: first came the pandemic, then the war with Russia. He moves through life impatiently. Now thirty-two, he has five children. He is tall, with a tight beard, pale-green eyes, and a square jaw. Even in casual situations, he stands ramrod straight, as though about to give or receive an order. He often wears a shirt with three buttons undone, a beige leather flying jacket with the collar turned up, combat pants, and Nike high-tops. He plays the guitar, a little piano. He often carries a thick fold of high-value bills. He speaks several languages, including English (almost perfectly) and Spanish (conversationally). He once spent thirty days in jail after breaking the ribs of a man who'd threatened his wife. He can dance the tango. When Fatkullin was in his mid-twenties, he started doing stunts with a group of other extreme athletes: parachutists, motorcyclists, a free diver.