Three people were killed today in Russian shelling of Ukraine, Ukrainian regional governors said, quoted by the Associated Press. The attack was carried out against the background of drone attacks that the two countries exchange, one of which set fire to an oil warehouse in Russia.
Two people died in the partially occupied Ukrainian Kherson region and two were injured in an attack near the capital of the region, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin announced, as quoted by the Ukrainian agency Ukrinform. One more person died this afternoon and 16 were injured in the northeastern Kharkiv region, regional governor Oleg Sinegubov said.
A fire broke out this morning at an oil depot in Russia's Tsimlyansky District, Rostov Region. The flames were caused by a Ukrainian drone attack - another blow by Kiev on a border region.
In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up airstrikes on Russian territory, targeting refineries and oil depots in an attempt to delay the Kremlin's military action. Moscow's army is advancing on the front line in eastern Ukraine, where troop and ammunition shortages in the third year of the war have left the Ukrainian side vulnerable to Russian attacks, AP notes.
The regional governor of the Rostov region, Vasily Golubev, said that the drone attack caused a fire that covered 200 square meters, but specified that there were no casualties. About five hours after reporting the fire on the "Telegram" social network, Golubev said that the flames had been extinguished.
In addition to two drones intercepted over Rostov region, Russian air defenses shot down two drones over western Kursk and Belgorod regions overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian air defense intercepted four out of five Russian drones last night, the Ukrainian Air Force announced. The fifth drone took off in the direction of Belarus, Commander Mykola Oleschuk said.
At the same time, eight people were injured in shelling in the town of Shebekino in Russia's Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said today.
Vadim Filashkin, the Ukrainian regional governor of the partially occupied Donetsk region, said yesterday's Russian attacks killed six people and wounded 22.