Ukrainian forces launched a major drone attack on the southwestern Russian city of Voronezh on Monday, killing at least three civilians and wounding 29, according to the latest numbers from local Russian officials.
Alexander Gusev, governor of the Voronezh Oblast, said that 113 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the region, with 70 taken down directly over the city.
Gusev said in a post on Telegram that a significant number of the injured were hit by drone debris while traveling on a passenger train. He said that fires broke out at industrial facilities, civilian homes, a school stadium, a garage, and footage posted to social media that was verified by Reuters shows a drone crashing directly into an apartment building.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that it intercepted a total of 290 Ukrainian drones across multiple Russian regions overnight Sunday into Monday, during the attack on Voronezh. A day earlier, a major Ukrainian drone attack hit Russia’s Belgorod region, killing four civilians.
Ukraine’s drone attacks inside Russia are known to be supported by US intelligence, and that support has continued despite reports that the US was threatening to cut intelligence sharing and arms shipments if Ukraine didn’t stop attacks on Russian oil refineries. Ukraine’s Starlink service was briefly throttled by what appeared to have been a decision made by SpaceX owner Elon Musk.
Russian missile strikes also continued to pound Ukraine on Monday, with two civilians reported killed in the northeastern city of Kharkiv. Local officials said that a high-rise apartment building and several homes were damaged during the attack. In the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, at least one person was killed by Russian strikes.
