Hostilities escalate over the Black Sea

MOSCOW/KYIV — The Russia-Ukraine hostilities have escalated over the Black Sea and its coastal areas, authorities said.

Ukrainian drones have targeted multiple Russian resort cities along the Black Sea coast, while Russia has struck Ukrainian vessels transporting military supplies.

Seven people were killed and at least 40 others were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on Arkhipo-Osipovka, a Black Sea resort village in Russia's Krasnodar Krai region on Monday, according to the regional emergency response center.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Monday that its unmanned aerial vehicles struck four bulk carriers ferrying military cargo that supported military operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The ministry said that two bulk carriers unloading military supplies were targeted at the port of Mykolaiv, a river port situated on the Southern Bug River, about 65 kilometers inland from the Black Sea. Two other cargo ships carrying military material were attacked in the Black Sea waters.

Escalating attacks by both sides on shipping in the Black Sea have reawakened fears that global food security could be put at risk.

Turkiye on Tuesday repeated its appeal for both Russia and Ukraine to ensure the safety of navigation in the Black Sea after two Turkish-owned ships were attacked by drones after leaving the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement expressed concerns that the conflict is increasingly spreading across the Black Sea, threatening civilian shipping, and warned such incidents could have broader consequences, including for the global food supply, as important amounts of grain, fertilizers and other key produce move through those waters.

In other developments on the battlefield, five people were killed and six others injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on Tuesday morning in Moscow Oblast, regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said on his Max channel.

Elsewhere, a regional official in Sumy in Ukraine's northeast said Russian attacks killed one person in Sumy on Tuesday.

Oleh Hryhorov, the regional governor, said on Telegram that three locations in the Kovpakivsky District were struck, with private homes and infrastructure coming under attack.

One day earlier, Ivan Fedorov, a regional chief, said Russian planes dropped eight powerful glide bombs in a span of 90 minutes on residential districts of Zaporizhzhia, killing one person and wounding dozens of others.

In another development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Olha Stefanishyna, according to a decree published by the presidential office on Monday.

Stefanishyna, who had served as ambassador since last year, said in a Facebook post that she had requested to be relieved of her duties for personal reasons. She described her service in Washington as "the greatest honor" of her life.

"We have increased the supply of American weapons and maintained support precisely when the political environment in Washington was not in our favor," she said.

Zelensky has not announced a successor to the post.

The move comes after a government reshuffle launched by Zelensky in July and at a time when Kyiv is seeking continued US military support amid its conflict with Russia.

Zelensky had appointed new national security and foreign intelligence chiefs earlier this week.

XINHUA-AGENCIES