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A large fire at an oil refinery in Russia‘s Black Sea port of Tuapse has sent thick plumes of smoke stretching hundreds of kilometres, according to satellite imagery, after the second deadly Ukrainian strike within days.
Nasa Worldview images showed dark smoke from burning oil storage tanks spreading inland as far as the Stavropol region, some 300km away.
The fire erupted following a series of Ukrainian strikes on the facility and surrounding oil infrastructure.
Ukraine’s Security Service said it first targeted the Tuapse refinery and port infrastructure on 16 April, with a second strike on 20 April, which hit an oil terminal and caused a massive fire. The strikes led to one fatality, while another man was injured.
According to Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, the fire was still burning as of late on Tuesday.
It comes as the EU was expected to reach a decision on unblocking a €90bn loan for Ukraine within 24 hours, after Volodymyr Zelensky said the Druzhba pipeline carrying Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia had been repaired.
Zelensky earlier criticised the repeated visits made by Donald Trump’s envoys to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin, saying it was “disrespectful” that they had not once travelled to Kyiv.
Woman and child killed by Ukrainian drone in Russia’s Syzran, official says
A woman and child were killed in the Russian city of Syzran after a Ukrainian drone attack caused their apartment building to partially collapse, the regional governor said on Wednesday.
Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, governor of the Samara region, said that two apartment buildings had been hit in the attack, something he called a crime against the civilian population.
“Two people – an adult woman and a child – have died in Syzran following an attack by an enemy drone,” he said in a statement. “They were pulled from the rubble of the destroyed building’s entrance. This is a tragedy we all share,” said Fedorishchev.
Twelve people were injured in the attack, the governor said.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians.
James Reynolds22 April 2026 11:30
UK facing most serious cyber attacks from Russia, Iran and China
The most serious cyber threats facing the UK are now being carried out by hostile states including Russia, Iran and China, according to Richard Horne, head of the National Cyber Security Centre.
In a speech, Horne is set to warn that Britain is living through a “seismic geopolitical shift”, with the risk of large-scale cyberattacks rising sharply, particularly in the event of an international conflict.
Horne will say the NCSC is currently dealing with around four nationally significant cyber incidents each week.
While criminal activity such as ransomware remains common, the most serious threats stem from state-linked operations.
He is expected to highlight China’s highly sophisticated cyber capabilities, Iran’s use of cyber tools to target perceived opponents abroad, and Russia’s expansion of tactics developed during the war in Ukraine into wider operations across Europe.
Officials across Europe have already raised alarms over attacks on critical infrastructure, including power plants, dams and water systems in countries such as Sweden, Poland, Denmark and Norway.
Horne will warn that, unlike ransomware attacks, businesses may not be able to recover by paying off attackers in a conflict scenario, urging organisations to strengthen defences and fully assess their exposure before it is too late.
Shweta Sharma22 April 2026 11:09
Recap: Zelensky seeks summit with Putin
Ukraine has asked Turkey to host a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, its top diplomat said, as Kyiv seeks to reinvigorate stalling peace talks.
“We asked the Turks about it, we asked some other capitals,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in comments to reporters.
He added that Ukraine would be ready to consider any place other than Belarus or Russia for a meeting with Putin, which Zelensky has long sought to try to hasten a resolution of the more than four-year war.
Belarus is a close ally of Russia and allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory to launch its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Sybiha did not say how Ankara had responded to the proposal.
“We addressed the Turks specifically,” he said. “But if another capital, besides Moscow and Belarus, organises such a meeting, we will go.”
Zelensky showed openness to a meeting with Putin (AFP/Getty)
James Reynolds22 April 2026 11:00
EU sanctions Russian firms linked to propaganda and misinformation
The measures, announced on Tuesday by the European Council, target media platform Euromore and the Foundation for the Support and Protection of the Rights of Compatriots Living Abroad (Pravfond).
The Council stated that Pravfond’s “legal and analytical output is systematically used to reinforce key Kremlin disinformation points.”
Shweta Sharma22 April 2026 10:30
Ukraine says some Russian missiles fly near Chernobyl, risking major accident
Russia has repeatedly launched drones and missiles on a flight path near the disused Chernobyl nuclear plant during attacks on Ukraine, elevating the risk of a major accident, Ukraine’s top state prosecutor told Reuters.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko detailed the previously unreported Russian military activity near Ukrainian nuclear sites in written remarks, as Ukraine prepares to mark Sunday’s 40th anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Apart from the decommissioned Chernobyl power station, Ukraine has four nuclear power plants, including Europe’s largest, which lies in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and has been occupied by Russian forces since soon after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Both the Chernobyl site and western Ukraine’s two-reactor Khmelnytskyi nuclear plant have been on the flight path of Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles since the invasion, Kravchenko said.
Thirty-five Kinzhals have been detected at various distances within around 20 km (12 miles) of the Chernobyl facility or the Khmelnytskyi plant, he said. Of those, 18 passed within around 20 km of both sites on the same flight, he added.
“Such launches cannot be explained by any military considerations. It is evident that the flights over the nuclear facilities are carried out solely for the purpose of intimidation and terror,” he said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency watchdog said it frequently reported about military activity in the vicinity of nuclear power plants and attacks on electrical substations that are key to nuclear safety.
“IAEA Director General (Rafael) Grossi has repeatedly expressed deep concern about the risks and dangers of these military activities for nuclear safety and security,” it said.
“The DG has also repeatedly called for maximum restraint near nuclear facilities to avoid the danger of a nuclear accident.”
Shweta Sharma22 April 2026 10:00
Ukraine wants to name part of its nation ‘Donnyland’ to appease Trump and end war with Russia: report
Ukrainian officials suggested renaming a section of the disputed Donbas region “Donnyland” to appeal to President Donald Trump’s ego and to get him “more on their side,” according to a report.
The moniker was suggested in an “attempt to convince the Trump administration to push back more against Russia’s territorial demands,” and was first mentioned “partly in jest” by a Ukrainian translator, according to The New York Times, citing four people familiar with the negotiations.
Donnyland, which is about 50 miles long and 40 miles wide, would appear to be a nod to the president’s fondness for putting his name on everything from federal buildings and skyscrapers to bank accounts and commemorative coins.
Shweta Sharma22 April 2026 09:30
Zelensky seeks summit with Putin
Ukraine asked Turkey to host a meeting between president Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, its top diplomat said, as Kyiv seeks to reinvigorate stalled peace talks.
Foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine would be ready to consider any place other than Belarus or Russia for a meeting with Putin aimed at resolving the war.
Sybiha did not say how Ankara had responded to the proposal, in comments at a meeting with reporters on Tuesday that were cleared for release on Wednesday.
The Kremlin previously said it is willing to host Zelensky in Moscow, where the Ukrainian leader has said he will not go.
James Reynolds22 April 2026 09:02
Nato criticises Russian and Chinese nuclear arms policies
Nato has criticised Russia and China over their nuclear policies, urging both to work with the US to improve stability and transparency ahead of a UN review of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
In a statement, Nato’s 32 members underlined their “strong commitment to the full implementation” of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), a cornerstone of global arms control since it entered into force in 1970.
The statement came ahead of a conference beginning next week at the United Nations in New York to review the operation of the treaty, against a backdrop of geopolitical instability including Russia’s war against Ukraine and the US-Israeli war against Iran.
“Russia has violated crucial arms control commitments and employed irresponsibly threatening nuclear rhetoric. China continues to rapidly expand and diversify its nuclear arsenal without transparency,” said the statement from Nato’s North Atlantic Council.
Nato members “strongly encourage the United States’ pursuit of multilateral strategic stability,” it said.
“Today, we face a Russia that has dropped out of all the important arms control agreements, that has been… developing all sorts of… nuclear delivery systems, and that is engaged in the largest war in Europe since 1945,” Nato assistant secretary General Boris Ruge said.
China has dismissed Western criticism that its buildup of nuclear arms lacks transparency.
Shweta Sharma22 April 2026 08:51
In pictures: Russia’s Tuapse refinery after attack
A massive fire at an oil refinery in Russia’s Tuapse has sent thick plumes of smoke drifting hundreds of kilometres.
Satellite imagery from NASA Worldview showed dark smoke from burning oil storage tanks spreading inland as far as the Stavropol region, some 300km away.
At least one person was killed, and another was injured after the second Ukrainian strike within four days that hit an oil terminal in the same area.
Visuals indicate extensive smoke from burning oil storage tanks, while Nasa’s FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System) project continues to detect active hotspots, suggesting the blaze remains uncontrolled, reported RBC Ukraine.
A satellite image shows the oil spill at the Black Sea in Tuapse (Reuters)
A satellite image of smoke rising after, according to Ukraine’s military, an overnight strike on an oil refinery hit reservoir tank storage and started a fire in Tuapse (Reuters)
File: Fire and smoke rise at the Tuapse oil refinery near the Tuapse port, following a Ukrainian drone attack, according to Russian officials, in Tuapse, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video released on April 20, 2026 (Reuters)
Shweta Sharma22 April 2026 08:31
Two people killed in Russia’s Syzran after Ukrainian drone attack collapses building, officials say
Two people were killed after part of an apartment building collapsed in the Russian city of Syzran after a Ukrainian drone attack, local emergency services said on Wednesday.
The RIA Novosti state news agency, citing local emergency services, said earlier that 12 people had been injured.\
(Reuters)
Shweta Sharma22 April 2026 08:06