Air base on fire in Russia's Lipetsk region, nearly 300 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, in an area hit last night by Ukrainian drone attacks, reported the official Russian agencies TASS and RIA Novosti, quoted by France Press, writes BTA.
„A fire broke out at a military airport in the Lipetsk region,” the two agencies wrote, citing the regional emergency ministry, without specifying whether this fire was due to a Ukrainian attack. Last night, a “massive“ a drone attack that damaged a power plant, the regional governor announced earlier, quoted by France Press.
„Caution! Lipetsk is subject to a massive drone attack, Governor Igor Artamonov wrote in Telegram. "Energy infrastructure was damaged, resulting in power outages," the governor added in a later statement, adding that power had been restored to most of the affected homes.
Artamonov declared a state of emergency in the city of Lipetsk and ordered the evacuation of four surrounding villages "to ensure the safety of residents," a measure affecting 416 households. He also asked the residents of Lipetsk not to go out until the end of the announced alert. The city of Lipetsk is located about 200 km in a straight line from the border with Ukraine.
Another Ukrainian drone attack was reported in the Belgorod region, near the Ukrainian border. According to regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, Russian air defenses shot down 29 drones, the attack caused material damage, but no one was injured.
In Sevastopol, on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev reported attacks from the air and sea by drones. Russia's Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, has been the subject of a major incursion by Kiev's forces since Tuesday, AFP said. More than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers and dozens of armored vehicles are involved in the surprise attack, according to the Russian General Staff, which said it was doing everything it could to repel them.