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A Ukrainian strike on Crimea killed at least three people and wounded seven others in Simferopol, the region's Moscow-installed authorities reported Thursday. The attack came just a day after Kyiv targeted energy and military sites in Saint Petersburg, where Russia was hosting its annual economic forum.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed concern, warning of a "real" risk of the Ukraine war escalating as Kyiv demonstrates its ability to strike deep within Russian territory. Ukraine has characterized its strikes on Saint Petersburg as "fair" retaliation for a sustained wave of Russian bombardment on its own territory.

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We have been living under such attacks for many years now.

Sergey Aksyonov, the Moscow-installed head of Crimea, announced the preliminary reports of the strike on non-residential buildings in Simferopol via Telegram, stating that emergency services were on site. The attack occurred as the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), an event once dubbed "Russia's Davos," was set to begin, drawing participants from 130 countries.

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The Petersburg forum is opening with a nice plume of black smoke in the background after Ukrainian strikes.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov vowed that Russia would deliver a "systemic" response to Ukraine's strikes on Saint Petersburg. Black smoke was visible from the conference venue as initial sessions commenced on Wednesday. Valeria, a businesswoman attending the forum, commented that she was accustomed to such threats, stating, "We have been living under such attacks for many years now."

Ukrainian officials indicated that the Saint Petersburg attack, targeting an oil terminal and a military base, aimed to disrupt the conference. Sergiy Sternenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian defense minister, remarked, "The Petersburg forum is opening with a nice plume of black smoke in the background after Ukrainian strikes." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated his country was responding "accordingly" to Russian bombardment, adding, "It's just a matter of time before we can scale up the intensity of our responses."

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It's just a matter of time before we can scale up the intensity of our responses.

Meanwhile, other incidents were reported: a drone strike on a bus in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine killed at least seven people, according to Moscow-installed officials. Two additional deaths were reported near the Ukraine border and in the Russian-occupied Kharkiv region. Conversely, Russian attacks across Ukraine reportedly left at least 10 dead, local officials said. Rubio further noted in a US Senate hearing that Ukraine has become "increasingly effective at conducting long-range strikes deep into Russia," underscoring the "real" risk of escalation.

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It's one of the things that reminds us of why it's important to try to bring this war to an end, if we can, because the risk of escalation is real, more real than it was two years ago.