Crimea hit by emergency as Europe seizes Russian shadow tanker
Ukrainian attacks have forced Crimea into a state of emergency, while France’s seizure of a Russian shadow fleet vessel underscores Europe’s tightening economic and security pushback against Moscow.
Authorities in Russian-annexed Crimea have declared an "emergency situation" to manage widening fuel shortages and power cuts caused by Ukrainian aerial attacks on the peninsula's logistics chains and oil facilities.
The disruption demonstrates Kyiv's success in degrading Russia's military infrastructure. Russia's defence ministry said it shot down 660 Ukrainian drones overnight, one of the highest daily totals since the war began. "Today, Ukraine is depriving Russia of this launchpad and drawing a line under its attempts to normalise war," Zelenskyy said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy framed the campaign as a direct response to Russian strikes. "We are doing everything to force Russia to end the war and restore justice. And it is Crimea that is at the centre of this policy of ensuring justice," he said.
Europe tightens sanctions net
The economic pressure on Moscow extended to the Mediterranean, where the French navy seized an oil tanker suspected of being part of Russia's "shadow fleet". The vessel, the Deliver, was captured near Sicily and taken to waters near Marseille.
It is the ninth ship seized across Europe since the start of 2026, reflecting a concerted effort to close loopholes in western oil sanctions. The Russian embassy in France labelled the seizure "piracy".
Ukraine bets on domestic AI
On the investment front, Ukrainian telecoms operator Kyivstar signed a memorandum of understanding with the economy ministry to build domestic computing capacity for artificial intelligence. The agreement was reached at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk.
Parent company VEON will fund the first phase, which requires 3-5 megawatts of capacity and tens of millions of dollars. "The biggest consumer of Ukrainian AI right now is the military," said Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov. "You cannot run military computing somewhere outside. It is a matter of national security."
The broader security risk to Europe remains acute. Two Nato countries on the alliance's eastern flank warned that Russia is preparing a possible "provocation" in the Baltic states or Poland to test western cohesion. Western sources believe the Kremlin is being pushed toward such actions by the pressure of Ukraine's long-range strikes near Moscow and St Petersburg.
The conflict's human cost persisted on Friday, with a Russian drone strike killing three civilians in the Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions. Ukraine and Russia also exchanged 160 prisoners of war, and former Russian defence minister Sergei Ivanov died at the age of 73.
