Ukraine’s Operational Command South said this in a Facebook post, Ukrinform reports.

Ukrainian aircraft launched the attack near Pravdyne, Arkhanhelske, Olhyne, Bilohirka, and Novopetrivka.

Rocket and artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine killed 15 Russian soldiers and destroyed an anti-tank missile system and six vehicles, including armored vehicles.

On February 24, Russia began a new phase of its eight-year war against Ukraine – an all-out invasion.

Meanwhile Russia blamed saboteurs for explosions at one of its military bases in Moscow-annexed Crimea while Ukraine hinted it was responsible as its officials said their strategy was to destroy supply lines supporting Russia’s invasion.

The blasts on Tuesday engulfed an ammunition depot at a military base in the north of the Crimean peninsula, disrupting trains and forcing the evacuation of 2,000 people from a village, according to Russian officials and news agencies.

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In the Central Kabul several rockets  landed near the heavily fortified Green Zone where many embassies and international firms are based, officials said.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties but the explosions occurred in densely populated parts of the Afghan capital.

Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz confirmed “multiple rockets” had been fired, while photos on social media appeared to show damage to an external wall at a large medical complex.

The interior ministry said two small “sticky bomb” explosions had been reported earlier Saturday morning, including one that hit a police car, killing one policeman and wounding three others.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for blasts, which come amid an ongoing wave of violence that has wrought carnage across Afghanistan in recent months.

The Taliban have pledged not to attack urban areas under the terms of a US withdrawal deal, but the Kabul administration has blamed the insurgents or their proxies for other recent attacks in Kabul.

Taliban and Afghan government negotiators launched peace talks in Doha in September but progress has been slow.

Officials told AFP on Friday however that a breakthrough was expected to be announced in the coming days, and the US State Department announced late Friday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would meet negotiators from the Taliban and the Afghan government in Doha.

Trump has repeatedly vowed to end “forever wars,” including in Afghanistan, America’s longest-ever conflict that began with an invasion to dislodge the Taliban following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

President-elect Joe Biden, in a rare point of agreement, also advocates winding down the Afghanistan war although analysts believe he will not be as wedded to a quick timetable.

Earlier this week, the Pentagon said it would soon pull some 2,000 troops out of Afghanistan, speeding up the timeline established in a February agreement between Washington and the Taliban that envisions a full US withdrawal in mid-2021.

In the past six months, the Taliban carried out 53 suicide attacks and 1,250 explosions that left 1,210 civilians dead and 2,500 wounded, interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said this week

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“The cause has not been determined yet. There is a possibility of external interference through a rocket or bomb or other act,” President Aoun told local media .

The ongoing investigation is being conducted at three levels: “First, how the explosive material entered and was stored…second whether the explosion was a result of negligence or an accident…and third the possibility that there was external interference,” he added.

Meanwhile, rescue teams and volunteers continue to plough through debris to try and locate both survivors and bodies. So far, the death toll stands at 157, while over 5,000 people are said to have been injured during the blast. According to the Lebanese Red Cross, at least 100 people are still missing, most of whom were workers at the port, where the explosion took place.

The blast was caused by 2,750 tonnes of highly volatile ammonium nitrate, which was stored at a warehouse in the city’s port for almost seven years.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah says the explosion at the Beirut port reveals nepotism and corruption that can’t be ignored in Lebanon and that those responsible should be brought to justice.

Nasrallah denied in a speech on Friday that his group was responsible for Tuesday’s blast or exercised any power at the port. He was responding to claims that his group may have stored explosives at the port.

Still, Nasrallah didn’t rule out a missile attack or an act of sabotage. He said that storing explosive materials like ammonium nitrate at the port for so long means “it is partially an issue of negligence, corruption, nepotism” that should not be ignored.

Nasrallah added that if there is more confidence in an investigation carried out by Lebanon’s military, then so be it. He said nothing about an international investigation, which has been suggested and supported by the French and other Lebanese politicians.

Nasrallah also said his group’s domestic opponents are using the blast to blame Hezbollah and to turn public opinion against it. “You will see no results,” he said.

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Afghan security forces are facing almost daily attacks by Taliban militants, despite reported progress in efforts by the United States to broker an end to Afghanistan’s nearly 18-year war.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday’s blast just hours after Taliban militants set off two car bombs outside police headquarters in the southern city of Kandahar, killing at least 12 .

An eyewitness and an interior ministry official said a vehicle caught fire after the explosion caused by a sticky bomb, a common threat in Kabul, where insurgents often stick explosives under vehicles.

A police team defused a second bomb placed near the explosion site, Kabul police  said.

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