Ukrainian drone strikes killed five people, including two children, in Russia and on the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula, in attacks that also triggered a fire at a major oil depot in the country’s south, local officials said yesterday.

Ukraine has stepped up strikes on Russia in recent months in retaliation for Moscow’s near-daily barrages of drones and missiles throughout its five-year offensive.

Russia’s defence ministry said it downed 269 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russia and Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, reports AFP.

In Crimea, which Ukraine is trying to cut-off from Russian logistics and supply routes, the Russia-appointed governor Sergey Aksyonov said: “Two people, including a child, were killed and two others wounded ... as a result of overnight enemy attacks.

Meanwhile, France detained a Russia-linked oil tanker off the coast of Sicily earlier this week, President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday.