Russia-Ukraine war news: Russia says missiles downed over Kerch Bridge after Crimea drone attack

Russia also said it earlier intercepted 20 drones swarming over the Crimean Peninsula, the third day in a row that Russian officials report foiling a drone attack. The Kremlin, which has accused Ukraine of ramping up drone attacks on Moscow and Crimea, blamed Ukraine on Saturday for the drones and the downed missiles. While Kyiv has not officially claimed responsibility for such attacks, Ukrainian officials have recently suggested that Moscow residents should expect daily attacks.

Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.

The Russian-appointed head of Crimea said there was no major damage and no casualties in the bridge incident. He said that three missiles were thwarted, although Russia’s Defense Ministry reported downing two. Unverified footage showed smoke rising from the bridge, a prized project for Russian President Vladimir Putin that was built shortly after annexation. The bridge has been a target of attacks — including by drone boats in July and a truck explosion in October that damaged the roadway.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses shot down 14 drones over Crimea overnight and that electronic warfare systems blocked the rest. It also said there were no casualties or major damage.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired all heads of regional military recruitment centers in a sweeping move he described as a crackdown on corruption. He said officials faced accusations such as taking bribes or the “illegal transportation” of people across the border to Ukraine’s western neighbors to avoid the military draft. Last week, Zelensky said an audit of the centers found “disgusting” malfeasance.

Ukraine has started registering vessels to pass through temporary corridors in the Black Sea, Interfax Ukraine reported Saturday, citing Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk. Ukraine’s navy announced the creation of the corridors earlier this week and said they would mostly be used to allow civilian vessels stuck since the start of the war to exit Ukrainian ports. “We remind you that the last ship with Ukrainian food left the port of Odessa July 16,” the Thursday statement said, referring to Russia’s exit from the U.N.-backed agreement that had allowed the safe wartime export of grain from Ukraine via the Black Sea.

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on four men who served on the board of Alfa Group, one of Russia’s largest financial and investment giants. The U.S. targets include the Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, who have been fighting European Union and British sanctions imposed on them during the war. “Wealthy Russian elites should disabuse themselves of the notion that they can operate business as usual,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.

The southern port city of Odessa, a popular Ukrainian summer vacation spot, has reopened some of its beaches for the first time since the war broke out. Beachgoers are not allowed during air alerts, and the presence of a rescue boat and “protective mesh fences against explosives” is mandatory in areas open for swimming, Odessa governor Oleg Kiper said Saturday on Telegram. “Have a quiet and sunny weekend everyone,” he added.

Shelling killed an elderly woman early Saturday in Ukraine’s Kupyansk, said the regional governor, Oleh Synyehubov, who has accused Russian forces of intensifying attacks there. Moscow and Kyiv have reported a recent escalation in fighting in Kupyansk, in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, and Kupyansk authorities ordered a mass evacuation of civilians.

An aerial bomb hit the town of Orikhiv in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region Saturday, killing a police officer and injuring a dozen other people, including four officers, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote on Telegram.

Security is becoming “increasingly distant” for Moscow residents, Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence, said in an interview with the Kyiv Post as Russia reported an uptick in attempted drone attacks in recent weeks. He said “it would be logical to assume an increase in daily attacks.”

A Russian Su-30 fighter plane crashed Saturday in a deserted area of Russia’s Kaliningrad region, killing the crew, the state-owned news agency RIA reported. Russia’s Western Military District reported that the plane was on a training flight when a technical malfunction caused it to crash, the outlet reported.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Andriy Yermak briefed national security adviser Jake Sullivan on the phone about the situation in the most contested areas of the frontline on Saturday. They also discussed Ukrainian defense needs, Yermak said in a tweet.

Tensions between Ukraine and Poland over grain hint at exhaustion from the war, Post journalists report. Although Poland has been among Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, the neighbors are involved in a growing dispute over grain imports from Ukraine, which Poland is allowed to ban to protect its farmers under a deal brokered by the European Union.

Zelensky spoke with Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema about the importance of the Black Sea grain deal, the Ukrainian presidential office said Friday. Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal last month raised worries for countries struggling with food insecurity. In Zambia, 48 percent of people are unable to meet their minimum calorie requirements, according to the World Food Program.

Zelensky fires military recruitment center chiefs after corruption probe: The dismissal of military recruitment chiefs comes as part of a wider effort to root out corruption, particularly in the military, David L. Stern reports from Kyiv.

Some critics contend that the campaign is aimed at appeasing Western allies and has not targeted corruption at the highest levels, he writes.

Natalia Abbakumova contributed to this report.