MOSCOW: Ukrainian drones attacked a fuel storage facility in Russia’s central Oryol region, causing a fire, local officials said early Saturday.
Andrei Klychkov, the governor of Oryol, confirmed the strike, describing it as a “mass attack” targeting critical infrastructure.
He added that some homes in the region were damaged by debris from downed drones.
Ukrainian military blogs shared videos showing a large fire at the Russian fuel storage site, which they identified as the target of the drone assault.
Other Russian regions, including Krasnodar, Bryansk, and Belgorod, also reported similar drone attacks, although no further details were immediately provided.
This comes as the Ukrainian government reports ongoing pressure from Russian forces.
On Friday, Ukrainian news outlets, including The Kyiv Post and The Kyiv Independent, said Russian troops had gained ground near Pokrovsk, a strategic city in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Reports indicated Russian forces were within 5 kilometers of the city, which is a key logistical hub for Ukrainian military operations.
In contrast, Ukraine’s military has resisted several Russian offensives elsewhere in Donetsk, according to reports from the Kyiv Independent and the DeepState monitoring group, which tracks the war.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Russia’s latest missile and drone assault on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Earlier on Friday, he said Russia launched one of the largest attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid to date, sending 93 missiles and nearly 200 drones across the country.
Ukraine’s air defenses intercepted 81 of the missiles, including 11 cruise missiles downed by F-16 fighter jets, Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian president also noted that at least one North Korean missile was used in the attack.
“This is Putin’s ‘peaceful’ plan – to destroy everything. This is how he wants ‘negotiations’ – terrorizing millions of people,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.
He called for a robust international response, saying, “A massive strike – a massive reaction. This is the only way to stop terror.”
In response, Russia’s Defense Ministry said the missile and drone strikes were targeted at “critically important fuel and energy facilities” in Ukraine.
The Russian military claimed that the strike was retaliation for a Ukrainian attack on a Russian airbase earlier in the week.
Zelenskyy also discussed the attack in a phone call with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who expressed Finland’s readiness to assist in bolstering Ukraine’s air defenses.
Stubb reaffirmed Finland’s strong support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, particularly regarding its aspirations to join the EU and NATO.
As of Friday, the full extent of the damage to Ukraine’s energy grid remained unclear, though officials confirmed significant power cuts in the aftermath of the strikes.
The national grid operator announced that electricity outages had been extended for millions of civilians, with power cuts in regions like Kyiv lasting up to 11 hours.
The attack also targeted critical infrastructure in Ukraine’s Lviv region, close to the Polish border. Industry sources reported that power substations and gas infrastructure were hit, with more damage to thermal power plants than in previous assaults.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that five of Ukraine’s nine nuclear reactors had reduced power output due to the strikes. One individual was reported to have sustained light injuries.
Moscow described the attack as a necessary retaliation for a Ukrainian missile strike on a Russian airfield in the past week.
Russia maintains that its operations target military infrastructure while claiming not to intentionally target civilian areas. However, it views the energy grid as a key part of Ukraine’s military infrastructure.
The attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure come amid an ongoing struggle in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces have gained ground in the industrial Donbas region.
With the prospect of former US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, speculation about negotiations to end the war is growing.
Zelenskyy has reiterated that Ukraine requires more Western support to strengthen its position before any peace talks.
