Even as Russia lays claim to more of the country, confidence is growing that the former territory can be retaken

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest updates

From an elegant mansion in Kyiv’s government quarter, Tamila Tasheva is planning what the Ukrainian takeover of Crimea might look like.

Tasheva, president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s top representative for Crimea, and her team spend their days discussing issues such as how many Ukrainian teachers or police should be sent to the peninsula if Kyiv regains control, and what else would be required to help reverse eight years of Russian rule.

Worried locals lambast Sevastopol’s governor after attack on region once regarded as impregnable

A Ukrainian drone hit the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea this weekend, the latest assault on a region Moscow once considered an impregnable fortress.

Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the Sevastopol military base on Saturday morning, and city residents were urged to stay at home immediately after the strike, the latest in a string of high-profile attacks on sensitive targets there and inside Russia.

Ukrainian president’s comments come as thousands of Russians flee Crimea after strikes on peninsula

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said that panicking Russians have realised that Crimea is “not a place for them” after three mysterious and devastating strikes on the peninsula over the past week, thought to have been carried out by Ukrainian operatives.

In his latest video address Zelenskiy said long queues of cars streaming across the Crimea Bridge leading to the Russian mainland proved that the “absolute majority” of Russian citizens had got the message. At least 38,000 cars crossed on Tuesday – a record.

Multiple aircraft at Saky base in Crimea blown up, with the new evidence suggesting possibility of targeted attack

• What we know on day 169 of the invasion

At least eight Russian warplanes appear to have been damaged or destroyed in the recent attack on Saky airbase in Crimea, according to newly released satellite images, in contrast to Russian claims that none were damaged.

Late on Wednesday Ukraine’s air force said at least nine Russian aircraft were destroyed on the ground following Tuesday’s dramatic explosions at the Saky airbase, which Russia said killed one, wounded 14 and damaged dozens of nearby houses.

Attack on Saky military base in Novofedorivka on Tuesday afternoon killed one and wounded 13

• Ukraine crisis – latest updates

Ukraine’s air force said it believed that up to a dozen Russian aircraft were destroyed on the ground following Tuesday’s dramatic explosions at the Saky airbase in Crimea, which Russia said killed one, wounded 13 and damaged dozens of nearby houses.

Political sources in Ukraine said the country had carried out the attack – but no public claim of responsibility was made by Kyiv of the incident that one expert believes may have been the product of a daring raid rather than a missile strike.

One person killed in Novofedorivka, 110 miles from frontline, after ‘aviation munitions detonated’ in storage area

A Russian airbase deep behind the frontline in Crimea has been damaged by several large explosions, killing at least one person, although it was not immediately clear whether it had been targeted by a long-range Ukrainian missile strike.

Multiple social media videos showed explosions and clouds emerging from the Saky military base in Novofedorivka on the western coast of Crimea on Tuesday afternoon, prompting questions about how a location more than 100 miles (160km) from the frontline could have been attacked. Later a senior Ukrainian official appeared to claim responsibility, without giving details.

Ukraine does not confirm involvement in Sevastopol attack, while Russia cancels Navy Day events

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates
• Ukrainian offensive forces Russia to bolster troops in occupied south
• Zelenskiy urges hundreds of thousands to evacuate Donetsk region
• What we know on day 158 of the invasion

Russia has claimed that its Black Sea fleet headquarters in Sevastopol have been hit by a Ukrainian drone strike, wounding five people and prompting officials to cancel festivities planned for Navy Day.

The attack was reported by Mikhail Razvozhayev, the head of the local Russian administration in Sevastopol in Crimea, which was occupied and then annexed in 2014.

Defence minister announces decision after military buildup led to fears of possible invasion

Russia has said it will recall many of its troops from Crimea and the border regions of Ukraine, rolling back an aggressive military buildup that had sparked fears that Moscow was preparing an invasion force.

The decision, announced by the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, came after video on social media and satellite imagery last month revealed a buildup of tanks, artillery, fighter jets and even short-range ballistic missiles massing 150 miles from Ukraine. US officials called it the largest muster of Russian military power along the border since the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Analysis: there are several reasons Russia would want to raise tensions, but an attack appears unlikely

Russia’s fortnight-long military buildup to the east and south of Ukraine has helped it mass an estimated 80,000 troops in the border region in an attention-grabbing exercise that is increasingly occupying western thinking.

Tanks and other artillery units have also been arriving at Voronezh, east of Ukraine, according to Janes, a military intelligence firm, and a staging ground for about 3,000 troops been established to the south of the city.