One person was killed and several apartments and an industrial facility were damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack on the southern Russian region of Saratov, governor Roman Busargin said on Sunday.
Busargin posted on the Telegram messaging app that residents were evacuated after debris from a destroyed drone damaged three apartments in the overnight attack.
“Several residents required medical assistance,” Busargin said. “Aid was provided onsite, and one person has been hospitalised. Unfortunately, one person has died.”
Russian air defence units destroyed 121 Ukrainian drones overnight, including eight over the Saratov region, the defence ministry said. The ministry reports only how many drones its defence units down, not how many Ukraine launches.
Busargin did not specify what kind of industrial site was damaged.
Social media footage showed thick black smoke rising over what looked like an industrial zone. Reuters verified the location seen in one of the videos as matching file and satellite imagery of the area but could not establish when the video was filmed.
Ukrainian media, including RBK-Ukraine, reported that the oil refinery in the city of Saratov was on fire after a drone attack. Reuters could not verify those reports and there was no official comment from Russia.
The Rosneft-owned ROSN.MM refinery in Saratov city was forced to suspend operations earlier this year for safety reasons after Ukrainian drone attacks, industry sources told Reuters.
Russia’s SHOT Telegram channel, which often publishes material from security and law enforcement sources, reported about eight explosions were heard over Saratov and Engels, cities separated by the Volga River.
Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia said on Telegram that flights in and out of Saratov had been halted for about two hours early on Sunday to ensure air safety.
Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians in their strikes on each other’s territory in the war that Russia launched with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Kyiv says its attacks inside Russia aim to destroy infrastructure key to Moscow’s war effort, including energy and military targets, and are in response to continued Russian strikes.
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