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       Estonian Minister of Justice Kalle Laanet resigned Saturday over a corruption allegation.

       The member of the ruling Reform party had allegedly been renting a Tallinn apartment from his stepson's company during his time in office and had the expenses reimbursed by the state. Since 2021, the total amount was about €12,000, according to local media.

       "To ensure legal clarity and the peaceful functioning of government, I decided today that I will not be continuing in office as the minister of justice," Laanet said.

       Laanet denies the allegations. He says he decided to resign to "protect his relatives from public attacks."

       Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has accepted Laanet's resignation and expressed gratitude for the minister's service. Laanet is expected to remain in office until President Alar Karis appoints a replacement.

       Laanet was Estonia's defence minster for a year until 2022. He became justice minister last April.

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       Ukraine launches far-ranging drone attacks on the final day of Russia's presidential vote.

       Ukraine launched a new massive wave of drone attacks Sunday as Russians cast ballots on the final day of a presidential vote set to extend President Vladimir Putin's rule for another six years.

       The Russian Defence Ministry reported downing 35 Ukrainian drones overnight, including four in the Moscow region.

       Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said a fifth drone, close to the capital’s Domodedovo airport, was later downed on Sunday morning. No casualties or damage were reported.

       According to the Defence Ministry, another two drones were shot over the Kaluga region just south of the Russian capital and the Yaroslavl region northeast of Moscow.

       The attacks on the Yaroslavl region, which is located about 800 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, were some of the farthest launched by Ukraine so far.

       More Ukrainian drones were downed over the Belgorod, Kursk and Rostov regions that border Ukraine and the southern Krasnodar region, the Defence Ministry said.

       Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the Ukrainian shelling killed a 16-year-old girl Sunday and injured her father.

       A drone fell on a refinery in the Krasnodar region, sparking a blaze that was extinguished a few hours later, according to regional authorities. A worker at the refinery died of a heart attack, officials said.

       Refineries and oil terminals have been key targets of Ukrainian drone attacks.

       The attacks followed a series of other Ukrainian drone raids and other attacks over the past few days that Putin described as an attempt by Ukraine to frighten residents and derail Russia's presidential election.

       “Those enemy strikes haven’t been and won’t be left unpunished,” he vowed during Friday's meeting of his Security Council. “I’m sure that our people, the people of Russia, will respond to that with even greater cohesion."

       Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said that 14 Russian drones had been shot down over the Odesa region Sunday. The attack follows a Russian ballistic missile assault on the southern port city Friday, blasting homes and killing at least 21 people. A second missile then targeted first responders who arrived at the scene, officials said.

       Russian forces also launched five S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles at Ukrainian-controlled areas in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, as well as two X-59 guided missiles in the Chernihiv region, the Ukrainian airforce said.

       As the war drags into a third year, Russian forces have made some slow and incremental gains along the front line, relying on their edge in firepower, while Ukraine has fought back with more drone attacks deep inside Russia and cross-border raids.

       On Saturday, two people were killed and three others were wounded in the Ukrainian shelling of the Russian border city of Belgorod which has faced regular attacks.

       The Russian military also claimed it thwarted another attempted cross-border incursion by Ukrainian “sabotage and reconnaissance groups” on Saturday.

       The Russian Volunteer Corps — which includes Russians fighting alongside Ukrainian forces — released a video on social media Saturday alleging to have captured 25 Russian soldiers. The claim couldn't be independently verified.

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       Cross-border attacks in the area have taken place sporadically since the war began and have been the subject of claims and counterclaims, as well as disinformation and propaganda.

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       Accompanied by soldiers, Russian officials continue their campaign door-to-door campaign and comb neighbourhoods to solicit votes in the occupied territories.

       Mariupol is one of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian cities where presidential "elections" are held, which Kiev calls "illegal and null."

       As in other territories occupied by Moscow, voting operations began several days earlier, with the arrival of "mobile ballot boxes".

       Occupational authorities claim this is for security reasons.

       A man casts a ballot at a polling station during a presidential election in Mariupol, Russian-occupied Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine AP

       The "elections" in the territories occupied by Moscow

       Early elections to elect the President of the Russian Federation were also staged in the Luhansk Territory as well as parts of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces.

       Mariupol has suffered much loss of life and destruction during the Russian siege and heavy fighting in early 2022. The occupying authorities say they are actively rebuilding the city, showing off the renovated facades of residential houses, previously damaged by shelling .

       Last Saturday, a tragic anniversary passed without a trace in the occupied city: two years since the Russian bombing of the Drama theatre on 16 March, 2022. It is considered the deadliest Russian attack against civilians since the start of the war in Ukraine. It is believed that two 500kg bombs hit the building, where between 800 and 1,200 people were taking refuge.

       Hundreds of people died. The exact toll is not yet known as the relevant authorities never investigated. The Kremlin has denied any involvement, trying to shift the blame onto the Ukrainians. At the end of 2023, the demolition of the ruins began: according to Kiev, Moscow's attempt to erase evidence of the massacre by Russia.

       Several organizations consider the bombing to be intentional, and therefore a war crime, since the theatre was evidently not a military target and was too far from any other facilities for it to be assumed that it was a mistake.