by Tom Balmforth and Olena Harmash
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ukraine carried out a large-scale drone attack on eight Russian regions overnight from Friday to Saturday, targeting energy infrastructure in the Russian military-industrial complex, a Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters on Saturday .
At least three substations and an oil depot were hit in a joint operation by the Ukrainian security services (SBU), military intelligence services (GUR) and special forces, the source said.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the nighttime attack and said it had shot down 50 Ukrainian drones in several regions including Belgorod, Moscow and Smolensk.
Read also…
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, said a pregnant woman and her unborn child were killed in the drone attacks.
Earlier, the governor of Russia’s western Smolensk region said a Ukrainian drone attack hit an oil depot overnight and another attack in the central region was foiled.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks on refineries in Russia, the world’s second-largest exporter, since the start of the year in a bid to reduce Russian revenues from the energy sector.
The Smolensk region does not have significant refineries.
“Thanks to the work of the air defense forces, the aircraft was brought down. However, falling debris caused a fire,” said Vasily Anokhin, the region’s governor.
Russia described the attack as a terrorist attack.
(French version Zhifan Liu)
©2024 Thomson Reuters, all rights reserved. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters or its third party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. “Reuters” and the Reuters Logo are trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies.