Ukraine and Russia exchange deadly overnight energy infrastructure strikes

Combined overnight Russian drone and missile strikes on targets in Ukraine killed at least eight people, and injured dozens more, according to the Ukrainian authorities.

Two people were killed and four were injured in Russian attacks on the city of Zaporizhzhia and the surrounding district, according to Governor Ivan Fedorov, while three people were killed and 17 were injured in missile strikes on Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv and across the wider Kharkiv region, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

Three people were killed and three others were injured in southern Ukraine’s Odesa region, which saw drone strikes on its industrial, energy and civilian infrastructure, according to Governor Oleh Kiper. 

In Russia, a Ukrainian drone strike near the city of Almetyevsk in the Volga republic of Tatarstan caused a fire to break out early on Monday when falling debris landed on an industrial facility, according to the local administration.

The target of the attack was an oil pumping station near the village of Kaleykino, which belongs to pipeline operator Transneft, according to Telegram news channel ASTRA. The local authorities said there were no casualties and that a clean-up operation was in progress.

The southwestern Russian city of Belgorod and surrounding areas were also subjected to Ukrainian missile strikes over the weekend, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Sunday evening, adding that energy infrastructure had been damaged, causing power, water and heating interruptions. Two motorists were killed in separate drone strikes on cars in the region, Gladkov continued.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Monday that its air defences had destroyed 158 Ukrainian drones overnight, most of them over the Belgorod region.