Ukraine war: Moscow and Kyiv launch overnight drone attacks as conflict escalates

“A drone attacked a fuel and lubricants warehouse in Zheleznogorsk. There are fires in the area right now,” he added.

How Ukraine uses lethal sea drones to target Russia’s Black Sea fleet

He said later a second drone had hit the depot at the Mikhailovsky Mining and Processing Plant in the city of Zheleznogorsk, some 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

“As a result of combat operations, 38 Shaheds were shot down,” the air force said in a statement, referring to the unmanned aerial vehicles, adding that the drones were launched from Russian border regions and the annexed Crimean peninsula.

Kyiv has appealed to its Western allies to help bolster its air defences to fend off systematic Russian aerial attacks on key infrastructure throughout the two-year invasion.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general said seven people including a 10-year-old boy were injured during the overnight attacks in the eastern Sumy region.

Russia’s Chinese yuan funding lifeline is getting too expensive

One of the drones fired at the Sumy region had targeted a hospital where 400 patients were housed, Governor Volodymyr Artiukh said.

In the northeastern Kharkiv region, a school and kindergarten building were damaged, though there were no casualties, the regional prosecutor’s office said.

Officials in the southern Odesa region said a recreational facility, a gas pipeline and residential buildings were damaged by debris from the downed drones and some residents in the Khmelnytsky region were left without electricity after the attack.

Regional officials in Russia said Ukraine had also fired artillery and drones at the Belgorod border region. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said there was some minor damage, but no casualties.

09:43

Ukraine war two years on: disease, displacement and demands for aid

Ukraine war two years on: disease, displacement and demands for aid

Russia’s defence ministry said it had downed Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod and Voronezh regions.

The facility, Europe’s largest nuclear energy site, was seized by Russian troops in the first days of the war.

The Kremlin also said on Wednesday it does not recognise International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued on Tuesday for two top Russian officers over alleged war crimes conducted in the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia is not a member of The Hague-based court.