Ukraine claimed responsibility for a missile attack that struck the headquarters of Moscow's Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea today, leaving one missing and sparking a fire.
Ukraine has targeted Crimea throughout Russia's offensive but attacks on military installations there have recently intensified.
"Around 12:00 (0900 GMT), Ukraine's Defence Forces launched a successful attack on the headquarters of the command of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol," the Ukrainian army's communication department said on Telegram.
Sevastopol, home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, has been increasingly targeted as Kyiv has vowed to take back the peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.
"I would like to thank the air force pilots once again," Ukrainian air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said after the strike.
The Russian defence ministry said one serviceman was missing, after initially reporting one dead in the attack.
"The historic headquarters building of the Black Sea Fleet was damaged," it said, adding air defence had shot down five missiles.
"The headquarters of the fleet have been hit in an enemy missile attack," Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of Crimea's largest city Sevastopol, had said on social media.
Mr Razvozhayev said that missile fragments had fallen near a theatre and urged residents to stay clear of the site.
Ten residential buildings were lightly damaged, he said, but "no one was wounded."
Cyberattack
He had warned that another aerial attack could be imminent, urging residents of the city, which is home to more than 500,000 people, to remain indoors.
"Attention everyone! Another attack is possible. Please do not go to the city centre. Do not leave buildings," he said.
"Everyone who is near the headquarters of the fleet -- at the sound of the siren proceed to shelters," Mr Razvozhayev added.
He said rescue workers were at the scene, adding: "Firefighters are taking all measures to eliminate the fire as soon as possible."
The peninsula was also hit by an "unprecedented cyberattack" on its internet providers, said Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the Moscow-installed Crimea governor.
Ukrainian and Russian attacks in and around the Black Sea have increased since Moscow withdrew from an accord that allowed safe passage to civilian cargo ships from three Ukrainian ports.
Ukraine has urged its allies to provide its armed forces with long-range missiles so it can target positions deeper inside Russia-controlled territory.
Western leaders had hesitated over concerns Ukraine could target Russian territory and thereby escalate the conflict.
Both France and the United Kingdom had, however, supplied Kyiv's forces with the weapons.
Airfield struck
As part of the increasingly frequent strikes targeting Crimea, Ukraine said earlier this week it had struck a military airfield near the town of Saky.
A source in Ukraine's SBU security service said there were at least a dozen warplanes and Pantsir missile defence systems at the airfield when the attack took place.
The airfield also housed a training centre for operators of drones that Russia uses to target Ukraine.
The SBU source said that Ukraine had deployed a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles which "overwhelmed Russian air defenses" and then launched Neptune cruise missiles.
Kyiv has also repeatedly targeted - and hit - the only bridge that connects the peninsula to the Russian mainland, on several occasions leaving damage that took weeks to repair.
The last major attack in July impacted the road section of the bridge, which can accommodate rail traffic and is also used to transport military equipment.
Russian officials said that traffic across the bridge had been temporarily paused.
Civilian maritime traffic was stopped earlier today in Sevastopol, Russian-installed authorities said, without providing details.
Energy infrastructure
It comes as Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmygal has said that Russia has restarted a systemic campaign of aerial attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, but that air defences are better prepared for the onslaught than last year.
During winter last year, Russian forces launched repeated attacks on Ukraine's energy grid that left millions without electricity, heating and water for extended periods.
"We understand that the stage of energy terror in this heating season has already begun," Mr Shmygal said at an economic forum in Kyiv, one day after Moscow's forces fired more than 40 cruise missiles at Ukraine.
"We see it in the first attacks on regional power substations in the last two weeks," he said, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, also citing attacks on fuel production and storage facilities.
The barrage last winter from Russian forces spurred Ukraine to bolster its air defence with support from its military allies in the West.
"We are much better prepared and stronger than we were last year. For sure, winter will be difficult," Mr Shmygal said.
"But we are better prepared for it, because we understand what the enemy is preparing for and what threats and challenges we all face," he added.
Earlier this morning, a ship carrying wheat left a Ukrainian port and is heading to Egypt, the second such trip since Russia reimposed its Black Sea blockade in July, a minister has said.
The Palau-flagged Aroyat vessel left Chornomorsk after being loaded with 17,600 tonnes of grain, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on social media platform X.
Ukraine is testing a new sea route that avoids international waters and follows those controlled by NATO members Bulgaria and Romania following Russia's withdrawal from a UN-backed grain export deal.
A first ship carrying 3,000 tonnes of wheat left the same port earlier this week. Mr Kubrakov said the destination for the first ship, the Resilient Africa, was Asia.
Kyiv had earlier successfully sent several cargo ships along the new route, without transporting Ukrainian grain.
These voyages became safer after Russia was forced to pull back its warships following a series of successful Ukrainian missile strikes on the Kremlin-controlled peninsula of Crimea, where Moscow's Black Sea fleet is based.
Russia also stepped up attacks on Ukraine's Black Sea port infrastructure after abandoning the grain deal.
