KYIV (Dispatches) - Ukraine launched waves of drone attacks targeting oil and power facilities in western parts of Russia overnight, officials and media outlets reported on Wednesday.
Debris from a destroyed drone sparked a fire at an industrial facility in Kstovo, in Nizhny Novgorod, governor of the region that lies east of Moscow said on the Telegram messaging app.
“According to preliminary data, there are no casualties,” Gleb Nikitin, the governor, said.
He did not disclose further detail. Baza, a Russian Telegram news channel, which is close to Russia’s security services, reported that an oil refinery in Kstovo was on fire.
In the western Russia region of Smolensk, which borders Belarus, air defense systems destroyed a drone attempting to attack a nuclear power facility, Governor Vasily Anokhin said. He added that parts of the region were under a “massive” drone attack.
“According to preliminary information, one of the drones was shot down during an attempt to attack a nuclear power facility,” Anokhin said on the Telegram messaging app. “There were no casualties or damage.”
Another 26 drones were downed over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, and 20 drones over the Tver region that borders the Moscow region to its south, regional governors said. There were no damage or casualties, they said.
Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said on Telegram that in order to ensure safety it was halting all flights at the Kazan airport. Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, lies some 830 km (516 miles) east of Moscow.
The full scale of attacks was not immediately known. Reuters could not independently verify the reports and there was no comment from Ukraine.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in their attacks in the war that Russia started with a full-scale invasion in February 2022. Kyiv says that its attacks inside Russia aim to destroy infrastructure key to Moscow’s war efforts.
Meanwhile, debris from a destroyed Russian drone fell near a metro station in the Darnytskyi district of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital, said on Wednesday.
“All emergency services heading to the site,” Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app.
Kyiv was under air raid alert for about half an hour starting at 0355 GMT, according to data from Ukraine’s air force.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine could find a legal way to hold peace talks with Russia on ending their nearly three-year-old war, but Moscow sees no willingness on Kyiv’s part to engage.
Putin told Russian state television that negotiations with Ukraine were complicated by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “illegitimacy” in remaining in power beyond his mandate with no authority to sign documents.
“But essentially, if they want to proceed, there is a legal way to do it. Let the chairman of the Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) handle it in accordance with the constitution,” Putin told top Kremlin reporter Pavel Zarubin.
“If there is a desire, we can resolve any legal issues. However, so far, we simply do not see such a desire.”
If Ukraine showed a desire to negotiate and seek compromises, Putin said, “let anyone suitable lead those talks. We will naturally secure what meets our interests.
“But in terms of signing documents, everything has to be done in a way that legal experts confirm the legitimacy of those who are authorized by the Ukrainian state to sign these agreements.”