Meanwhile, the Russian army has intensified pressure on the key Ukrainian transport hub of Pokrovsk, with no casualties reported so far.
Russian officials on Saturday said Ukrainian forces targeted overnight multiple Russian regions with a massive drone barrage.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said in a statement that its air defence systems “intercepted and destroyed” a total of 75 drones over a number of regions that lie on the border with Ukraine or not far from it, including Belgorod, Krasnodar, Kursk, Oryol, Rostov, Voronezh, and the Ryazan region deeper inside Russia.
One of those drones was also shot down over the Azov sea, the statement said. Thirty-six drones were destroyed over the Rostov region, according to the ministry.
Rostov Gov. Vasily Golubev said in an online statement, however, that the region was attacked by a total of 55 drones. He didn’t specify how many of these were intercepted and how many hit the targets, saying only that “warehouse facilities” in the Morozovsk and Kamensky districts sustained damage in the attack.
Ukraine’s General Staff said Saturday in a Facebook post that its forces struck an airfield in Morozovsk, hitting ammunition depots with guided air bombs, as well as fuel depots in the Belgorod, Kursk and Rostov regions.
Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov confirmed that an oil depot was hit in his region. He said one of the tanks exploded and caught fire, but it was swiftly put out.
In the Oryol region, two drones crashed into a residential high-rise building, causing a brief fire, Oryol Gov. Andrei Klychkov said. One person sought medical assistance in the aftermath of the attack, he said.
Ukraine’s Air Forces, in the meantime, said on Saturday that Russia overnight attacked Ukraine with 29 Shahed drones and four missiles.
Ukrainian air defences shot down 24 drones over nine regions of the country, Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said in an online statement. It wasn’t clear from his statement whether the missiles were intercepted as well or what damage the attack caused.
Meanwhile, Russian forces attacked Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad on Saturday, firing 11 missiles, the Donetsk regional police said. Pokrovsk was hit by seven missiles from the S-300 air defence system, with no casualties reported.
Police recorded 52 destructions – 40 residential buildings, three educational institutions, a polyclinic, an outpatient clinic, a shopping centre, a shop, an industrial facility, and office premises.
