Ukrainian drones also targeted an oil refinery in Siberia and the Ural city of Yekaterinburg, escalating strikes deep within Russian territory. Kyiv states that these strikes aim to weaken Russia’s war efforts and force the Kremlin to negotiate.
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Fatalities in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine, northeastern Ukraine, and Russian border villages were recorded after the United Nations (UN) warned of a recent increase in civilian casualties in the nearly four-and-a-half-year war.
US-led negotiations to end the fighting are at a stalemate, with Washington focusing on the war in the Middle East and Moscow seeking to occupy all of Eastern Ukraine.
Russian occupation authorities in southern Ukraine reported that eight people, including two children, were killed in a Ukrainian strike on a village near the Sea of Azov.
Yevgeny Balitsky, the Moscow-imposed head of the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, stated that Kyiv struck “tourist camps” in Kyrylivka.
Balitsky said that the strike in the seaside village, which Russia occupied in the first days of its offensive, also injured 14 other people.
Kyiv has not yet commented on this strike.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has intensified attacks in the Sea of Azov, targeting Russian ships there.
Strike on an oil refinery
Meanwhile, Kyiv reported that three drivers were killed in a Russian drone strike on the private courier service “Nova Poshta” in the northeastern city of Sumy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that it was a “double” drone strike.
According to Kyiv, two more people died in Southern Ukraine, while Moscow reported two deceased villagers in Russian border areas and one more person killed in the occupied part of Ukraine’s Kherson region.
Far from the battlefield, Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Tyumen region in Siberia, located more than 1,600 kilometers east of Moscow. This is one of Ukraine’s longest-range strikes to date.
Ukrainian strikes deep within Russian territory have caused fuel shortages and disrupted normal life in Russia, forcing Russians to feel this war more than ever.
Tyumen region governor Alexander Moor reported that a Ukrainian drone crashed on the territory of the oil refinery, causing a fire.
Moscow stated that Ukraine launched more than 300 drones into Russian territory.
Zelenskyy announced that Kyiv struck a factory in Kirov, hundreds of kilometers east of Moscow, for the second day in a row.
“The factory in Kirov, which supplies components for weapons that Russia uses to attack our people, was struck again,” Zelenskyy said.
Strikes on “Wildberries”
A day earlier, five people were killed in a strike in Kirov. Kirov governor Alexander Sokolov had earlier declared three days of mourning in the region, which had not been affected by Ukrainian strikes until now.
Sokolov stated that the final death toll from Friday’s strike was five, not six, as one man believed to be dead was found alive.
He called the deceased “heroes of the labor front,” saying that the strike would only “unite us against the enemy” and that Russia was fighting against the “collective West.”
Russian online retail giant “Wildberries,” which was heavily affected by Ukrainian strikes this week, reported evacuating its employees in the Ural city of Yekaterinburg, further west.
Yekaterinburg is one of Russia’s largest cities, located right next to Siberia.
“Wildberries” stated that it suspended operations at its “logistics facility” in the city after “timely evacuation.” The company said its facility was not damaged.
This week, Ukrainian drones struck “Wildberries” warehouses near Moscow, St. Petersburg, Crimea, and Southern Russia, causing fires and business losses.
Denis Pasler, head of the Sverdlovsk region, whose capital is Yekaterinburg, confirmed that the city had been attacked.
Pasler stated that casualties were avoided and that the drones caused a fire in a parking lot.
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not comment on Saturday’s attacks.
Ukraine states that its retaliatory strikes are a just retribution for more than four years of daily Russian shelling of Ukrainian cities.
