Moscow, Russia. Ukrainian overnight drone attacks on Russia killed one person, injured several others and damaged industrial sites and two empty oil tankers, Russian regional authorities said on Wednesday. The Ukrainian military confirmed strikes on tankers in the Sea of Azov as attacks on Russian energy-related targets continued.
Saratov and Tatarstan report casualties and damage
Roman Busargin, the governor of Russia’s Saratov region, said on Telegram that one person was killed, civilian industrial sites were damaged and several people were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack.
In Tatarstan, a Volga riverside region, local media cited the governor’s press service as saying that Ukrainian drones had damaged targets in the city of Nizhnekamsk and caused casualties.
The reports did not specify the targets. Nizhnekamsk is home to a major oil refinery and is near drone factories in the nearby town of Alabuga.
Tankers damaged in Sea of Azov
In the southern Rostov region, Governor Yury Slyusar said on Telegram that two tankers were damaged in the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of Azov. He said the vessels were en route to Rostov-on-Don, were empty and that two people were injured.
The Ukrainian military confirmed the strikes but said it had hit nine such tankers in the Sea of Azov.
The Sea of Azov is a key supply route for Russian forces in Crimea and other Russian-controlled parts of southern Ukraine.
Strikes target energy-related infrastructure
Russia has been experiencing acute fuel shortages in some regions as Ukrainian drone strikes on its oil refineries have intensified, with Kyiv hitting targets farther from its own territory.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had downed 415 Ukrainian drones in the past 12 hours.
Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the war, now in its fifth year, causing widespread power outages and winter heating shortages.