(Kyiv) Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 17 Russian Shahed-type drones overnight, the army said early Wednesday.
In its daily report at the start of the day, it reported 24 Shahed drones launched by Russian forces, including 17 shot down, without being able to give details on the consequences of this assault.
The day before, 28 of these same devices out of 31 had been destroyed by Ukrainian air defenses, the army also indicated.
Russia uses these Iranian-made devices and missiles almost daily to attack Ukrainian cities.
Two Russian drones were destroyed in the Dnipropetrovsk region (center-east), Governor Serguiï Lysak said, also on Telegram, mentioning material damage but no casualties at this stage.
The head of the military administration of the Poltava region (center), Dmytro Lounin, explained early Wednesday that the Kremenchuk oil refinery had been hit by a missile attack despite the “good work” of air defenses. “Factory activity is temporarily suspended,” he added, specifying that no casualties had been immediately reported.
Fire at a fuel depot in Sochi
A fire struck a fuel depot near the airport of Sochi, a seaside city in southwest Russia, at dawn on Wednesday, with Russian media citing a possible Ukrainian drone attack.
On his Telegram account, the mayor of Sochi, Alexei Kopaigorodsky, indicated that the fire, which did not cause any casualties, had been extinguished by firefighters and that the area affected by the flames was less than 100 m2.
The incident took place at a fuel depot near Sochi International Airport in the Adler district. According to the mayor, “the airport and all transport are operating normally”.
“The causes of the incident are being established,” he added.
The Russian online media Baza, close to the security services, claimed that it was a drone strike and published photos showing metal parts presented as debris from the machine.
The media also published an alleged video of the attack where we see a tank of the oil group Rosneft suddenly explode in a ball of flames.
If the drone attack is confirmed, it would be the first such incident in Sochi, a popular tourist city, since Russia’s offensive in Ukraine began in late February 2022.
Unlike other cities in the region, Sochi was spared the strikes and its airport is still open, while those of other large nearby cities (Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar) are closed to avoid incidents. related to combat.