Ukraine says Russian drones damaged energy infrastructure

Attacks by Russian drones in southern Ukraine overnight caused a fire at an energy facility in the Dnipropetrovsk region and damaged critical infrastructure in the Kherson region, Ukrainian authorities have said.

Ukraine forces shot down 16 out of 17 drones. Russia also used one Kh-59 guided air missile for the attack, the Ukrainian military said via Telegram messaging app.

Drone debris caused a fire at the energy facility, which was not identified. The emergency services have put out the fire, according to a statement from Serhiy Lysak, Dnipropetrovsk’s region governor.

No casualties were reported by the military or local officials.

The overnight attack also damaged a critical infrastructure facility and seven private residences in Kherson region with no casualties reported, according to Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

No further details about the facility or the damage were immediately available.

Since late March, Russia has launched multiple major attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, dealing significant damage to the Ukrainian power system and causing emergency power cuts in some regions.

Russian missiles and drones destroyed a large electricity plant near Kyiv and hit power facilities in several regions yesterday, worsening the state of an embattled energy system.

Russia’s defence ministry said this morning that its air defence forces had thwarted what it described as a series of attempted overnight “terrorist attacks” by Ukrainian drones on targets inside Russia.

It said in a statement that four Ukrainian drones had been destroyed over Russia’s Rostov region and one over Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.