Ukrainian drones target multiple Russian regions
Russian air defenses shot down dozens of Ukrainian drones over several regions on Tuesday, with the authorities in Belgorod reporting civilian injuries and damage to infrastructure, local officials and the Defense Ministry said.
The Russian military stated that at least 89 drones were intercepted between 7pm Tuesday and 7am Wednesday Moscow time across Belgorod, Kursk, Volgograd, and Rostov regions, and over the Crimean Peninsula and the Black Sea. Earlier, the Defense Ministry reported that during the day on Tuesday, an additional 92 drones were destroyed across ten regions, including Moscow.
Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported that attacks on the region continued into the night, wounding at least six people in the city of Belgorod after missile strikes and injuring another civilian later when a drone hit a residential building.
The man suffered shrapnel wounds and barotrauma and was taken to the hospital in what doctors described as moderate condition. The blast damaged the facade of the building and struck an administrative office nearby.
Power and water supplies were disrupted in parts of the Krasnaya Yaruga district, where the entire area was temporarily left without electricity. Emergency crews began repair work after clearance from the Defense Ministry, while the authorities organized water deliveries to residents. “The work will be completed by morning,” Gladkov wrote in a late-night update.
In Rostov Region, at least two people were taken to the hospital with shrapnel wounds, according to Governor Yury Slyusar. In Taganrog, windows and balconies in several apartment buildings were damaged during the overnight raid, with drone fragments also found in residential yards and near a private business. In the village of Bazkovskaya in Sholokhovsky district, a private home caught fire.
The incidents follow waves of Ukrainian drone raids across Russia in recent days. On Monday evening and early Tuesday, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said air defenses destroyed or intercepted 32 drones around the capital, with debris damaging several cars in nearby suburbs.
Ukraine has increasingly relied on drone strikes to hit targets deep inside Russia, including civilian areas and infrastructure. Moscow has denounced the raids as “terrorism,” pointing to last weekend’s attack on a wellness complex in Crimea that killed three civilians and injured 16. Russia has since launched retaliatory strikes on Ukrainian military sites, including drone assembly workshops and storage facilities, the Defense Ministry said.
