A residential building in the western Russian city of Smolensk caught fire after a drone strike Monday evening, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. said On Tuesday, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) launched more than 50 drones at targets across Russia overnight.
Vasily Anokhin, governor of Smolensk said As air defense systems intercepted 17 drones over the region overnight, fires broke out in several residential buildings following falling debris, but no injuries or serious damage to infrastructure were reported.
Several Russian Telegram channels, as well as Andriy Kovalenko, director of the Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation, said that the attack targeted the Smolensk aircraft factory, a facility under Western sanctions intended to produce and modernize aircraft for the Russian military.
“Each strike against such a factory would undermine Russia’s ability to maintain its aviation in combat readiness,” Kovalenko said.
In the southern Voronezh region, Governor Alexander Gusev said that a downed Ukrainian drone crashed into an oil depot in the town of Liski, causing a fire which emergency services are putting out “as soon as it is safe to do so”. The facility had already been on fire for several days following a previous drone attack on Wednesday.
Russian Ministry of Defense said that in total its air defense systems shot down 55 Ukrainian drones launched overnight at targets in western Russia, including 22 over the Bryansk region, 12 over the Rostov region, 10 over the Smolensk region, six over the Voronezh region, four over the Saratov region and one over the Kursk region.
Airports in the cities of Kazan and Ulyanovsk in Russia's Volga region temporarily halted flights on Tuesday morning due to the risk of drone attacks, the country's Federal Air Transport Agency said. said.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force said As of Tuesday morning, Russia had launched 131 drones and four missiles into the country overnight, with air defenses intercepting 72 of the drones and the remaining 59 failing to reach their target.
