A Ukrainian drone attack ignited a fire at an oil depot in Russia’s southern Volgograd region overnight, escalating cross-border strikes after Moscow launched a new hypersonic missile and a wave of drones and missiles that disrupted electricity and heating across Ukraine.
Volgograd Gov. Andrei Bocharov said local authorities were responding to a blaze at the fuel facility and warned that residents living nearby could face evacuation if conditions worsened. His comments were published on the regional administration’s Telegram channel. Officials did not immediately disclose the extent of the damage, and no casualties were reported.
Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces carried out the strike, identifying the target as the Zhutovskaya oil depot. In a statement released on Telegram, the military said the site supplies fuel to Russian forces and that assessments of the damage were ongoing.
Kyiv has increasingly relied on long-range drone attacks against Russian energy infrastructure, a strategy aimed at weakening Moscow’s oil export revenue, which helps finance the war. Russia, in turn, has intensified strikes on Ukraine’s power grid, a tactic Ukrainian officials say is designed to leave civilians without heat, electricity and water during winter.
The latest exchange followed a massive Russian assault overnight into Friday, when hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles struck multiple regions of Ukraine, killing at least four people in Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities said. During that barrage, Russia fired its nuclear-capable Oreshnik hypersonic missile for only the second time since the war began nearly four years ago, sending a pointed signal to Ukraine’s Western allies.
The heavy attack came amid signs of progress in discussions between Ukraine and its partners over long-term security guarantees should a U.S.-led peace initiative materialize.
U.N. Secretary-General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Friday’s Russian strikes caused extensive civilian harm and cut off essential services for millions. He said the attacks hit at a time of “acute humanitarian need,” leaving large parts of the population without electricity, heating or running water.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said heating in Kyiv was expected to be fully restored by the end of Saturday. She said emergency blackouts on the west bank of the Dnieper River would gradually be lifted, while repairs on the more heavily damaged east bank were proving more complex due to extensive destruction of the power grid.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces had struck Ukrainian energy facilities and fuel depots using aircraft, missiles, artillery and drones. The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 121 drones and one Iskander-M ballistic missile during the attack, adding that air defenses destroyed 94 of the drones.
Separately, Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses intercepted 59 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russian territory and occupied Crimea.
Ukraine’s military also said its forces hit additional Russian targets, including a drone storage site linked to the 19th Motor Rifle Division in the Zaporizhzhia region and a drone command-and-control center near the eastern city of Pokrovsk.
AP
