A Ukrainian drone attack sparked a fire at an industrial site in southern Russias Saratov region, regional officialssaid Tuesday as authorities in Kyiv and Russian media claimed the attacks targeted an oil refinery.Saratov region Governor Roman Busargin initially wrote on Telegram that there was damage at an unidentified facility.
Three hours later, hereported that a fire at the site had been extinguished.Busargin said there were no injuries due to the fire in Saratov, a region located around 275 kilometers (450 miles) southeast of Moscow.Russias Defense Ministrysaid its air defense systems downed 40 drones over five regions, including 18 over the Saratov region.Ukraines National Security and Defense Council Center for Countering Disinformationsaid the facility targeted in the Saratov attack was an oil refinery.
Ukraineattacked the refinery in November as well.The plant plays an important role in providing the Russian army with fuel, the centers head Andrii Kovalenko wrote on Telegram.He lateradded that the city of Engels, which hosts the Engels-2 air base, was also targeted in the overnight strikes.Russian media, including those with purported links to Russias security services,published videos of what they claimed to be the drone strikes onSaratov andEngels.Airports in the cities of Kazan, Kirov and Saratov temporarilygrounded all incoming and outgoing flights over the threat of drones.A Message from The Moscow Times:Dear readers,We are facing unprecedented challenges.
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