INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Moscow escalated its attacks in Ukraine on Saturday, with President Volodymyr Zelensky denouncing a deadly strike on a blood transfusion
centre as a "war crime."A separate strike struck a key factory, both attacks coming just hours after Kyiv hit a Russian tanker in the Kerch
Strait.The attacks were the latest since Moscow exited a deal last month that had ensured Ukrainian grain exports despite the ongoing
wounded are reported."A "guided air bomb" hit the centre in Kupiansk, a city a few dozen kilometres from the Russian border, said
Zelensky."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 Zelensky said Russian missiles had hit a facility of the Ukrainian aeronautics group Motor Sich, a
maker of plane and helicopter engines and other components.It is one of several companies requisitioned by the government since Moscow's
the Russian strikes had hit the Motor Sich headquarters.In his evening address, Zelensky remained defiant, insisting that "no matter how
many such Russian attacks there are, they will still do nothing for the enemy."Attack on fuel tankerEarlier 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 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 United States sanctions for supplying jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria, who are supporting President Bashar
al-Assad.Crimea focusThe Russian foreign ministry condemned the attack on a "civilian vessel," adding that the crew had not been
Saturday after a three-hour halt, according to the Russian highways information centre's Telegram channel.Crimea has been disrupted by
agreement protecting grain exports via the shipping hub during the conflict.On Friday, Ukraine struck the Olenegorsky Gornyak vessel at the
Malyar said Friday that Russian troops were aiming to draw Ukrainian resources to the east, as Ukraine pursues its counter-offensive in the
south.Ukraine began a fresh attempt in June to push back Russian troops but it has made only modest progress, its forces contending with
well-entrenched Russian positions built up over several months.With both sides focused on winning on the battlefield, any chance to secure
source said there had been agreement that respect for Ukraine's "territorial integrity and sovereignty" should be "at the heart of any
