A Ukrainian drone struck an industrial site in Russia’s Chuvashia region, located about 1,300 km (800 miles) from Ukraine’s border, in one of the deepest drone incursions yet, regional governor Oleg Nikolayev confirmed on Sunday.
The strike targeted the Kombinat Burevestnik facility in the regional capital, Cheboksary, but caused no casualties, Nikolayev stated via Telegram.
While emergency services responded at the scene, details regarding the extent of the damage were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities reported that 88 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight, with no reported injuries or significant damage.
The Russian Defense Ministry specified that 52 drones were downed over the Belgorod region, 13 over Lipetsk, and nine over Rostov. Others were intercepted in Voronezh, Astrakhan, Krasnodar, Ryazan, and Kursk regions.
As a safety measure, Russia’s aviation regulator, Rosaviatsia, temporarily closed airports in Astrakhan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kazan overnight.
Unofficial Russian Telegram news channels claimed that Ukraine’s drone strikes in Ryazan and Lipetsk were aimed at local oil refineries.
Additionally, Ukrainian Lieutenant Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, suggested that Lipetsk’s Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant had been hit, though he did not explicitly confirm Ukrainian involvement or provide evidence.
Ukraine maintains that such strikes target infrastructure critical to Moscow’s war efforts, framing them as a response to Russia’s ongoing aerial bombardments.
