Four people were killed in overnight Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia, authorities have said – in what appears to be the largest attack on Moscow in over a year.
According to local officials, three people died in the Moscow region, which doesn’t include the city but only the areas surrounding it, and one in the Belgorod region.
A woman was killed when a home was hit in Khimki, north of the capital, Moscow regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said, adding rescuers were searching the debris for another person.
Two men were killed in the village of Pogorelki in the Mytishchi district. Several residential high-rises and infrastructure facilities were damaged, Mr Vorobyov said.
The Indian embassy said among those who died was an Indian worker, while three other Indian nationals were also injured.
A total of 81 drones headed for Moscow since midnight were shot down by air defences, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing mayor Sergei Sobyanin. The attack makes it the largest on the capital in over a year.
Mr Sobyanin said 12 people were injured, mostly near the entrance to Moscow’s oil refinery, while three houses were
damaged. The “technology” of the refinery was not damaged, he added.
On Sunday, Ukraine’s security service SBU said the Ukrainian military hit an oil refinery and two oil-pumping stations in the Moscow region.
“Strikes on defense-industry facilities, military infrastructure and oil logistics sites reduce the enemy’s ability to continue its war against Ukraine.
“These attacks show that even the heavily protected Moscow region is not safe,” the SBU said on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attacks were “entirely justified”.
Russia’s defence ministry said 556 drones had been downed over the country overnight and into Sunday morning.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia attacked Ukraine with 287 drones overnight, 279 of which were shot down or jammed.
The strikes injured eight people in the central Dnipropetrovsk region and residential buildings were damaged, Ukraine’s emergency services said.
It comes after drone attacks were reported overnight into Saturday in both Russia and Ukraine.
Two people were killed in Ukrainian attacks in the Belgorod region, local officials said.
One man was killed when a Ukrainian drone hit a vehicle in the village of Krasnaya Yaruga, while another died when his home was hit in a strike on the village of Dubovoye.
Source: Sky News
-- Agencies
