More than 120 firefighters were trying to extinguish a blaze at an oil depot in the Russian city of Sochi that was sparked by a Ukrainian drone attack, regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev said early on Sunday on the Telegram messaging app.
In the Krasnodar region on the Black Sea where Sochi is located, a fuel tank with a capacity of 2,000 cubic metres (70,000 cubic feet) was on fire, Russia’s RIA news agency reported, citing emergency officials.
The Russian ministry of defence said in its daily morning report on Telegram that its air defence units destroyed 93 Ukrainian drones overnight, including one over the Krasnodar region and 60 over the waters of the Black Sea.
The ministry reports only how many drones its units destroy, not how many Ukraine launched.
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Rosaviatsia, Russia’s civil aviation authority, temporarily halted flights at Sochi’s airport to ensure air safety. Flights resumed as of 2am Irish time on Sunday.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
The attack, which Mr Kondratyev said was in the Adler district of the coastal resort city, would be Ukraine’s latest on infrastructure inside Russia that Kyiv deems key to Moscow’s war efforts.
A woman was killed in the Adler district in a Ukrainian drone attack late last month, but attacks on Sochi, which hosted the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, have been infrequent in the war that Russia launched in February 2022.
The Krasnodar region is home to the Ilsky refinery near the city of Krasnodar, among the largest in southern Russia and a frequent target of Ukraine’s drone attacks.
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Also on Sunday, the governor of Voronezh region in southern Russia said four people were injured in a Ukrainian drone strike that caused several fires, while Russia launched a missile attack on Kyiv, according to the military administration of the Ukrainian capital.
The Russian ministry of defence said that its units destroyed 18 Ukrainian drones over the Voronezh region that borders Ukraine.
Elsewhere, a Russian missile strike on the city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine injured at least seven people and destroyed or damaged dozens of homes and civilian infrastructure buildings, the regional governor said on Sunday.
Two of the injured were hospitalised as a result of the late Saturday attack, Mykolaiv governor Vitaliy Kim said on the Telegram messaging app.
Mr Kim posted photos showing single residential buildings almost destroyed, with building debris spread around. He said 23 private homes, 12 apartment buildings and a post office were damaged.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate comment from Russia about the attack. Both sides deny targeting civilians.
Ukraine’s air force said on Telegram that Russia had launched 76 attack drones and seven missiles targeting Ukraine overnight, striking eight locations throughout Ukraine. Ukraine’s air defence units destroyed 60 of the drones and one missile, it said.
In the early days of the war, the Mykolaiv region stood on the front lines, facing frequent artillery strikes and aerial attacks. Even after Russian forces were pushed back in late 2022, drones and missiles have remained a constant danger to communities.
In the front-line regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, at least three people were killed and more than 12 injured as a result of Russia’s attacks over the 24 hours into Sunday morning, regional governors said.
Russia also launched a short-lived missile attack on Kyiv overnight, but there were no reports of injuries or damage. – Reuters
