Zelensky condemns attack on blood transfusion centre as ‘war crime’

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said Russia has attacked a blood transfusion centre in the country as he condemned the fatal strike as a “war crime”.

A separate attack struck a key factory, both incidents on Saturday coming just hours after Kyiv hit a Russian tanker in the Kerch Strait.

The incidents were the latest since Moscow exited a deal last month that had ensured Ukraine could still export grain despite the ongoing conflict.

Russian forces struck the blood transfusion centre in the Kharkiv region of north-east Ukraine, Zelenskiy said, adding that “dead and wounded are reported”.

A “guided air bomb” hit the centre in Kupiansk, a city a few dozen kilometres from the Russian border, he said.

“Rescuers are extinguishing the fire,” he wrote on social media, adding: “This war crime alone says everything about Russian aggression.”

The strike came shortly after Zelenskiy said Russian missiles had hit a factory belonging to Motor Sich, which makes plane and helicopter engines and other components.

It is one of several companies requisitioned by the Ukraine government since Moscow’s invasion. The site is near Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine, around 300km (190 miles) south-west of Kyiv.

The region, home to a major Ukrainian airbase, has been regularly targeted by Russian strikes in recent months.

In his evening address, Zelenskiy remained defiant, insisting that “no matter how many such Russian attacks there are, they will still do nothing for the enemy”.

Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine claimed it “blew up” a Russian tanker, the Sig, that was transporting fuel for Russian troops, a Ukrainian security source told AFP.

The tanker was hit at about 11:20pm (20:20 GMT) on Friday south of the Kerch Strait, Russia’s Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport said.

The ship was holed at the waterline in the area of the engine room but was still afloat, the agency said.

In a video obtained by AFP purporting to show the attack, a vessel is seen approaching a large ship before the connection cuts off.

The Ukrainian source said the “successful special operation”, which involved a naval drone and explosives, was carried out jointly with the navy in Ukrainian territorial waters.

The Sig oil and chemical tanker is under US sanctions for supplying jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria, who are supporting President Bashar al-Assad.

The Russian foreign ministry condemned the attack on a “civilian vessel”, adding that the crew had not been injured.