War

A Russian gas pumping and measuring station in western Russia's Kursk region near the border with Ukraine was on fire after being rocked by a major explosion.
The Sudzha facility, once used by Gazprom to export gas via Ukraine to Europe, is in an area recaptured by Russian forces this week after heavy fighting with Ukrainian troops who had held it since last year.
Video posted on social media showed the fire. Reuters was able to confirm the location from visible landmarks.
Some Russian media accused the Ukrainian military of attacking the facility.
The Ukrainian military denied involvement and accused Russian forces of shelling it with artillery in "a provocation".
Russia and Ukraine have both said they would refrain from attacks on each other's energy infrastructure, after phone calls this week between US President Donald Trump and presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.
Mr Putin rejected a proposal for a full 30-day ceasefire.
Russia says it was already abiding by the agreement not to strike energy targets and has accused Ukraine of violating it.
Ukraine says Russia also launched attacks on energy targets, and it will honour the agreement if a formal document is signed.
A new explosion has rocked an oil depot in Russia's southern Krasnodar region where firefighters had been trying to extinguish a blaze that broke out after a Ukrainian drone attack hours after Mr Putin spoke to Mr Trump.
"During the extinguishing process, due to depressurisation of the burning tank, there was an explosion of oil products and release of burning oil," Russian regional authorities said on the Telegram messaging app.
The fire spread to another tank, and the fire area increased to 10,000 sq metres, they added - more than twice the original area of the blaze.
More than 450 firefighters were trying to tackle it, and two had been injured.
The Interfax news agency quoted regional authorities as saying that excess levels of harmful chemicals including benzene, had been detected in atmospheric tests at two locations nearby.
The depot, near the village of Kavkazskaya, is at a rail terminal for Russian oil supplies to a pipeline linking Kazakhstan to the Black Sea.
Russia has pounded Ukraine's energy grid throughout the war, causing frequent blackouts affecting civilians and industry, arguing that civilian infrastructure is a legitimate target because it helps Ukraine's war effort.
More recently, Ukraine has also been launching attacks on Russian oil and gas targets, which it says provide fuel for Russia's invading forces and funds its military.
Russia's foreign ministry said yesterday that Ukraine had violated the proposed agreement not to attack energy infrastructure by striking the depot.