Ukrainian drones set fire to Russian oil depot after Moscow launches new hypersonic missile
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian drone strike sparked a fire at an oil depot in Russia’s southern Volgograd region, regional officials said Saturday.
In a Telegram post published on the local government channel, regional Governor Andrei Bocharov was quoted as saying that no casualties were reported. The post did not specify damage but noted that people living near the warehouse may need to evacuate.
Ukraine’s long-range drone attacks Russia’s energy fields aim to deprive Moscow oil export revenue it needs to continue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants Crippling the Ukrainian power gridTrying to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water is an attempt to “weaponize winter,” Kiev officials say.
Saturday’s attack took place the day after Russia Bombed Ukraine with hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles By Friday, dozens of missiles had killed at least four people in the capital, according to Ukrainian officials. It was only the second time he used a powerful weapon in the nearly 4-year war. new hypersonic missile The incident that hit western Ukraine on Friday was a clear warning to Kiev’s NATO allies.
Intensive barrage and launch of nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed great progress reports Talks are ongoing between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country against further Moscow aggression in the event of a US-led peace deal.
UN Secretary-General spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Friday’s attacks “caused significant civilian casualties and left millions of Ukrainians without basic services, including electricity, heating and water, at a time of urgent humanitarian need.”
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said that heat supply in Kiev will be fully restored by the end of Saturday.
He said areas on the right bank of the Dnieper river would gradually lift emergency outages and return to planned outages. But restoring power on the left bank, where Russian attacks are concentrated, is more complicated due to severe damage to the power grid, he added.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that its forces used aviation, drones, missiles and artillery to strike Ukraine’s energy facilities and fuel storage depots on Friday and overnight. He did not immediately specify the targets or damage.
Russia hit Ukraine with 121 drones and an Iskander-M ballistic missile overnight into Saturday, according to the Ukrainian air force. It was stated that 94 UAVs were shot down.
Separately, the Russian Defense Ministry said 59 Ukrainian drones were “neutralized” over Russia and occupied Crimea overnight.
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