Exiled governor reports strike on 'Wagner HQ'

The governor-in-exile of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine says that Ukrainian forces hit the headquarters of the Wagner mercenary group, which is based in Russia.

Serhiy Haidai said that a lot of damage had been done to the hotel where the group met in Kadiivka, Luhansk.

The BBC couldn't confirm on its own that Wagner was at the hotel.

Over the weekend, there was also a lot of fighting in southern Ukraine. Russia attacked Odessa, and Ukraine bombed a target in the occupied city of Melitopol.

Western experts say that the Wagner Group is made up of paid mercenaries who work for the Kremlin.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former restaurant owner and close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, set up the private military company. It has been accused of war crimes and violations of human rights many times.

Wagner units were sent to Crimea, Syria, Libya, Mali, and the Central African Republic in the past.

Mr. Haidai said that Russia had suffered "significant losses" in the Kadiivka attack, and he thought that "at least 50%" of the forces that were still alive would die because they couldn't get medical care.

The "Wagner HQ" in the east was attacked as fighting continued in the south of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian army said on Saturday that it had shot down 10 drones and that another 5 had hit energy facilities in the port city of Odesa, cutting power to about 1.5 million people.

In his nightly video address, President Zelensky said, "The situation in the Odessa area is very bad." "Since the hits were so bad, it will take more than time to get the power back on. It takes a few days, not hours."

Officials in Ukraine say that Russia's drones made in Iran hit important infrastructure.

On Monday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will lead a meeting of G7 leaders online. They will talk about more sanctions against Russia and Iran.

Iran would be the target of the proposed measures because it sells drones to Russia. In the ninth package of Russia sanctions, almost 200 more people would be put on a list of people who should not do business with Russia.