A nuclear power plant was among the targets of a massive drone attack by Ukraine on Russian oil and power facilities. Officials in Russia and local media outlets reported on Wednesday.
Air defence systems destroyed a drone attempting to strike a nuclear power facility in the western region of Smolensk bordering Belarus, Governor Vasily Anokhin stated on social media.
The Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant, the largest power generating plant in Russia’s northwest, was working normally, RIA state news agency reported, citing the plant’s press service.
The Defence Ministry of Russia said on social media that 104 drones were involved in raids across western Russia, 11 of which were destroyed over the Smolensk region.
In total, Russian air defences destroyed drones over nine regions, nearly half of them over Kursk, where Russian forces are fighting to drive out Ukrainian troops that have occupied several villages.
Russian petrochemicals giant Sibur said it had temporarily suspended operations at its plant in Kstovo on Wednesday morning after debris from a drone from Ukraine sparked a fire.
There were no casualties at the plant, which is in the Nizhny Novgorod region about 800 km from the Ukrainian border, the company said, adding that emergency services were on site.
One person was injured and hospitalised as a result of a drone attack on the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, the regional governor said.
Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia temporarily halted flights at the Kazan airport in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan and at the Pulkovo airport in the Leningrad region. Flights have resumed since, according to Rosaviatsia’s Telegram statements.
Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in their attacks in the war that Russia started with a full-scale invasion in February 2022. Kyiv says that its attacks inside Russia aim to destroy infrastructure key to Moscow’s war efforts.
Team Bharatshakti
(With inputs from Reuters)
