Ukraine Drones Strike Crimea, Moscow, Oil Depot, Russia Says

 Smoke rises in the sky over a residential building destroyed by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 13, 2023. (Reuters)
Smoke rises in the sky over a residential building destroyed by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 13, 2023. (Reuters)
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Ukraine Drones Strike Crimea, Moscow, Oil Depot, Russia Says

 Smoke rises in the sky over a residential building destroyed by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 13, 2023. (Reuters)
Smoke rises in the sky over a residential building destroyed by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine September 13, 2023. (Reuters)

Russia said it thwarted a coordinated Ukrainian attack on Crimea early on Sunday, while drones also targeted Moscow, disrupting air traffic in the capital, and caused a fire at an oil depot in the southwest of the country.

Ukraine in recent days has launched a series of strikes on Russian military targets in occupied Crimea and the Russian Navy Black Sea Fleet's facilities, seeking to undermine Moscow's war efforts in the critical region.

Attacks deep inside Russia, far from the front lines, have also increased, with Moscow's mayor saying at least two drones were shot down in the capital region early on Sunday.

Reuters could not independently verify Sunday's reports and there were no immediate comment from Kyiv.

In an opinion piece late on Saturday, Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's Security Council, urged Kyiv's allies to speed up the delivery of weapons, saying this was the only way to end the war.

"For example, the complete or partial elimination of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which is a doable task, should significantly accelerate the process of Russia's search for a way out of the ongoing war," Danilov wrote on the Ukrainska Pravda news site.

Russian air defense systems destroyed at least six drones targeting Crimea from different directions, Russia's defense ministry said on Sunday.

The report on the Telegram messaging app did not say whether there was any damage or casualties in the peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in a broadly condemned move in 2014, eight years before Moscow's full-fledged invasion.

In the Moscow region, a drone was destroyed over the Istra district and another over the Ramensky district, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram, adding there were no casualties or damage from drone debris.

At least 30 flights were delayed and six cancelled at Moscow's major airports, Russian state news agencies said - a frequent move by aviation authorities during drone strikes.

In southwestern Russia, a Ukrainian drone damaged an oil depot early on Sunday, sparking a fire at a fuel tank that was later extinguished, the regional governor said.

"There are no casualties, all emergency services are working on the territory of the facility," the governor of the Oryol region, Andrei Klychkov, said on Telegram.

He did not specify whether the depot was hit by debris or targeted by the drone.



Australia Pledges Cyclone Aid to Pacific Neighbors

Australian servicemen stand on HMAS Canberra, ahead of the Kakadu International Fleet Review, a biennial maritime exercise marking 125 years of the Australian Navy, in Sydney, Australia, March 21, 2026. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Australian servicemen stand on HMAS Canberra, ahead of the Kakadu International Fleet Review, a biennial maritime exercise marking 125 years of the Australian Navy, in Sydney, Australia, March 21, 2026. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
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Australia Pledges Cyclone Aid to Pacific Neighbors

Australian servicemen stand on HMAS Canberra, ahead of the Kakadu International Fleet Review, a biennial maritime exercise marking 125 years of the Australian Navy, in Sydney, Australia, March 21, 2026. REUTERS/Hollie Adams
Australian servicemen stand on HMAS Canberra, ahead of the Kakadu International Fleet Review, a biennial maritime exercise marking 125 years of the Australian Navy, in Sydney, Australia, March 21, 2026. REUTERS/Hollie Adams

Australia pledged Au$2.5 million ($1.7 million) in aid to Pacific neighbors Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands Sunday, after tropical cyclone Maila caused devastating floods and landslides that killed 11.

In Bougainville, an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea that is seeking independence, school was cancelled this week after the cyclone destroyed critical infrastructure including roads and bridges and severely disrupted food supply chains, the region's government said in a statement Saturday.

Eleven people were killed in the region, including eight in a landslide.

Access to Panguna, home to a gold and copper mine that was once among the world's largest, had been cut.

The Bougainville autonomous region president, Ishmael Toroama, urged the population to "not lose hope" in a statement Friday.

The weather system began to weaken Saturday and has since been downgraded to a tropical low.

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong pledged Au$1 million for Papua New Guinea to respond to the cyclone's impact in Bougainville and Milne Bay.

Another Au$1.5 million will be provided to Solomon Islands, where severe impacts have been felt in remote communities across Western and Choiseul provinces.


Russia, Ukraine Trade Accusations on Easter Truce Violations

People cry as they hold hold photos of their missed relatives as Ukrainian soldiers return from captivity during a POW exchange between Russia and Ukraine in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
People cry as they hold hold photos of their missed relatives as Ukrainian soldiers return from captivity during a POW exchange between Russia and Ukraine in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
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Russia, Ukraine Trade Accusations on Easter Truce Violations

People cry as they hold hold photos of their missed relatives as Ukrainian soldiers return from captivity during a POW exchange between Russia and Ukraine in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
People cry as they hold hold photos of their missed relatives as Ukrainian soldiers return from captivity during a POW exchange between Russia and Ukraine in Chernyhiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that Ukrainian troops are violating the Easter ⁠truce while Russian ⁠forces are observing the ⁠declared ceasefire.

Civilians, including a child, were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Kursk region, ⁠the ⁠Ministry was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

Moscow accused Ukraine of 1,971 violations, while the Ukrainian army said that Russia has violated the truce in place for Orthodox Easter nearly 2,300 times since it came into effect.

"As of 7:00 a.m. on 12 April, 2,299 ceasefire violations were recorded. Specifically: 28 enemy assault actions, 479 enemy shellings, 747 strikes by attack drones... and 1,045 strikes by FPV drones," the Ukrainian military's general staff said in a post on Facebook.

"There were no missile strikes, guided aerial bomb strikes, or Shahed-type UAV strikes," it added.


At Least 30 Dead in Stampede at Haiti’s Historic Laferriere Citadel

A refugee woman rests at a school in Marchand Dessalines, Haiti, 04 April 2026 (issued 11 April 2026). EPA/Lebon Elysee
A refugee woman rests at a school in Marchand Dessalines, Haiti, 04 April 2026 (issued 11 April 2026). EPA/Lebon Elysee
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At Least 30 Dead in Stampede at Haiti’s Historic Laferriere Citadel

A refugee woman rests at a school in Marchand Dessalines, Haiti, 04 April 2026 (issued 11 April 2026). EPA/Lebon Elysee
A refugee woman rests at a school in Marchand Dessalines, Haiti, 04 April 2026 (issued 11 April 2026). EPA/Lebon Elysee

At least 30 people were killed on Saturday in a stampede in the northern countryside of Haiti, authorities said, warning that the death toll could rise.

Jean Henri Petit, head of Civil Protection for Haiti's Nord Department, said the stampede occurred at the Laferriere Citadel, an early-19th-century fortress built shortly after Haiti's independence from France, Reuters reported.

One of Haiti's most popular tourist attractions, the fortress was packed with students and visitors ⁠on Saturday who had ⁠come to participate in the annual celebration of the UNESCO World Heritage site, Petit added.

Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé said in a statement that he "extends his sincere condolences to the bereaved families and assures them of his profound ⁠solidarity during this time of mourning and great suffering."

He added that "many young people" were in attendance at the Citadel's celebrations, although it is unknown who died and the prime minister's statement did not give an estimate of the death toll.

Petit said the stampede occurred at the entrance to the site, adding that the rain further exacerbated the disaster.

The deadly stampede comes as Haiti is grappling ⁠with widespread ⁠violence by gangs that have massacred civilians, as well as an increasingly deadly crackdown by security forces.

The island nation has also been the site of various disasters in recent years, including a 2024 fuel tank explosion that killed two dozen people, another fuel tank blast in 2021 that killed 90 people and an earthquake that left some 2,000 people dead that same year.