One person was killed Saturday in Russia's Belgorod border region bordering Ukraine, and a fire broke out at an oil refinery further east in Samara after drone attacks, officials said.
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote in a telegram that two areas in his region were bombed by drones.
“It looks like the morning will be difficult,” Gladkov said. He added, “A civilian was killed and two others were injured.”
Samarra Governor Dmitry Azarov said in a statement posted on Telegram that the Samarra region witnessed “several drone attacks” on local oil refineries at the same time.
He added that one of them caused a fire in the Kuibyshev refinery, noting that there were no casualties.
The refinery, run by the giant Russian oil company Rosneft, is one of the largest in Samarra, and its production capacity reaches seven million tons annually, according to its official website.
Azarov said a drone attack on another refinery in the region, Novokuibyshevsk, was “repelled without damage to technological equipment.”
He added: “We see that the enemy, which is suffering defeats on the battlefield, is doing everything in its power to undermine our steadfastness and unity.”
Separately, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a press release that it destroyed “12 Ukrainian drones” overnight over the Bryansk, Belgorod and Voronezh regions, which border all three of Ukraine, as well as over the Saratov region.
Ukraine, which has been facing a Russian attack for more than two years, has intensified its attacks inside Russia in recent weeks, targeting energy sites in particular.
Kiev promised to transfer the fighting to Russian territory in response to the numerous bombing operations on its territory.
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