Ukraine and Russia intensified their mutual attacks, specifically targeting infrastructure and energy facilities. A Ukrainian drone attack on two logistics centers in Russia killed at least eight people, while a fire broke out at an oil depot in a Moscow suburb, local authorities reported on Saturday.

Two Ukrainian police officers examine a burned car in the city of Kharkiv after Russian shelling (dpa)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in a post on X that 'two large logistics facilities were hit in the Moscow and Tambov regions, more than 500 and 700 kilometers from the front line,' noting that the centers are used 'to provide sanctioned components used to produce drones and navigation equipment.'

Russian officials said on Saturday that at least eight people were killed and more than 60 others were injured in Russia in overnight Ukrainian drone attacks.

President Zelenskyy with a team of European officials in Kyiv (AP)

Kyiv's forces continue their sustained air campaign against energy infrastructure and military targets inside Russia, aiming to undermine Moscow's war efforts and make Russians feel the consequences of the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine,

which has entered its fifth year.

Russian officials added that Ukrainian drones bombed two large warehouses belonging to the Russian e-commerce company Wildberries overnight. One warehouse is located in Kotovsk, Tambov region, about 360 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, and the other in the city of Elektrostal, about 50 kilometers east of Moscow.

Dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov (AP)

Both warehouses caught fire, but Wildberries founder Tatyana Kim later said on Saturday that the fire in Kotovsk had been extinguished. Photos and videos published by Russian online outlets showed a blaze at the facility in Elektrostal, with huge columns of smoke rising above it.

The area was targeted by more than 379 drones overnight, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin revealed. He wrote in a Telegram post: 'Most of them were shot down by air defenses while still far away. 64 enemy drones were destroyed as they approached Moscow.'

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (right) and his Ukrainian counterpart Mykhailo Fedorov (left) sign a German-Ukrainian defense cooperation agreement in the presence of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Berlin, last April 14 (EPA)

The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down or intercepted 379 Ukrainian drones over 19 Russian regions, as well as over the illegally annexed Crimea peninsula and over the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian special operations unit also carried out strikes on targets in the Sea of Azov and in the occupied region.

In Ukraine, according to AFP, Russian strikes killed one person and injured 13. In the Black Sea, a ship flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda was hit, killing one person and wounding three, according to Odesa region governor Oleh Kiper. Sources in the Interior Ministry, Transport Ministry, and local authorities reported that a family of five was injured in the region.

Kiper added via Telegram that three people were also injured and infrastructure facilities - including a number of buildings, storage containers, and warehouses - were damaged. Kiper said 'industrial infrastructure' was also damaged, resulting in damage to an administrative building, a warehouse, and more than a dozen cars.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces struck two ports in the Odesa region, targeting a cargo ship carrying goods for the Ukrainian army in Pivdennyi and fuel tanks in Odesa port. The ministry also said four cargo ships were attacked in the port of Mykolaiv in the neighboring region. There was no confirmation from the Ukrainian side.

US President Donald Trump accompanied by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron during their attendance at the G7 summit in Évian, eastern France (AFP)

Separately, protests against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decision to dismiss Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov continued for the third consecutive day in Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine.

According to the official news agency Ukrinform, many protesters are also demanding the dismissal of Chief of General Staff Oleksandr Syrskyi, who is seen as part of the old guard of senior military leaders opposed to reforms.

As part of a broad cabinet reshuffle, Zelenskyy this week dismissed Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Fedorov, who had been in office for only six months, from the government.

The 35-year-old minister was seen as a reformer, having restructured the army's procurement system and known for his strong commitment to modernizing and digitizing Ukraine's defense forces. However, Fedorov himself acknowledged that he was engaged in a constant dispute with General Syrskyi.

Sergey Kuretsky, head of the state energy company Naftogaz, as prime minister (AFP)

Ultimately, Zelenskyy decided to support the chief of general staff, and intends to nominate Yevgeny Khmar, the acting head of the Ukrainian Security Service, as Fedorov's successor.

This is the fourth time the Ukrainian defense minister has been changed since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Former Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko's name was initially proposed for the defense portfolio. But Zelenskyy announced that Klymenko would instead take the position of secretary of the new National Security Council.

This position was held by former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who long led negotiations with the United States and Russia on ending the war. His political future remains unclear.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the Ukrainian President last December (EPA)

In other changes, Zelenskyy offered Taras Kachka, the former deputy prime minister in charge of European Union integration, the position of head of Ukraine's mission to the EU in Brussels.

Ukrainian lawmakers on Thursday approved the appointment of Sergey Kuretsky as the country's new prime minister. The former head of the state energy company Naftogaz received 289 votes in parliament, well exceeding the required 226-vote threshold. This cabinet reshuffle marks the second change of prime minister since Ukraine was invaded by its neighbor Russia.