International
Fresh Drone Attacks Rock Russia and Ukraine, Leaving Scores Dead
Ukrainian drones killed at least eight civilians in a wave of overnight strikes across Russia, hitting a warehouse belonging to online retailer Ozon and an industrial facility in the Samara region, Russian regional officials said on Saturday.
Samara Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said an elderly woman was killed in a strike on the city of Novokuibyshevsk, which he said damaged industrial facilities.
Ozon, Russia’s second-largest online retailer, said work at its logistics centre in Chapayevsk, Samara region, had been suspended following the strike, which caused injuries. The attack marked the first strike on Ozon after weeks of drone attacks on its larger rival, Wildberries. Ukraine has described the attacks as part of a broader campaign against economic infrastructure supporting Russia’s war effort.
In the southern Russian region of Krasnodar, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said three people, including two children, were killed in a strike on the Sea of Azov port town of Yeysk. He added that a fire broke out at an unnamed facility at the town’s port.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said two people were killed and 13 others wounded in Ukrainian attacks. In Bryansk, another border region, four people were wounded, according to the local governor.
In Luhansk, an eastern Ukrainian province almost entirely controlled by Russia, Moscow-installed Governor Leonid Pasechnik said two civilians, including a 16-year-old boy, were killed while nine others were wounded.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had shot down a total of 457 Ukrainian drones overnight.
The latest attacks come as Russia escalates its air war against Ukraine, while fighting on the battlefield approaches the four-and-a-half-year mark.
Ukraine has also intensified its attacks on Russia, targeting oil facilities and logistics infrastructure in an effort to weaken Moscow’s capacity to sustain the war.
(Reuters)
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