Kyiv, Ukraine — An oil depot caught fire in Russia’s southwestern Rostov region on Saturday following a Ukrainian drone attack in the early hours of the night, local officials said, in the latest long-range strike by Kiev’s forces on a border region.
In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up its airstrikes on Russian soil, targeting refineries and oil terminals in an attempt to slow the Kremlin’s war machine. Moscow’s military is putting heavy pressure on the front line in eastern Ukraine, where a lack of troops and ammunition in this third year of war has left defenders vulnerable.
Rostov Region Governor Vasily Golubev said a drone attack caused a 200-square-meter fire, but there were no casualties. About five hours after reporting the fire on Telegram, Golubev said the fire had been extinguished.
In addition to two drones intercepted over the Rostov region, Russian air defense systems destroyed two drones over the western regions of Kursk and Belgorod overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.
The Ukrainian Air Force has intercepted four of the five drones launched by Russia overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said Saturday morning. Mykola Oleschuk, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, said the fifth drone left Ukrainian airspace heading for Belarus.
Vadym Filashkin, Ukrainian governor of the partially occupied Donetsk region, said Saturday that Russian attacks on Friday killed six people and wounded 22 others.
Oleksandr Prokudin, governor of the also partially occupied Kherson region, said on Saturday that one person had been killed and six injured as a result of Russian shelling the previous day.
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