Moscow: Russia and Ukraine continued to accuse each other Wednesday of conducting overnight airstrikes that have targeted infrastructure in both countries, including energy. The head of the Russian Republic of Chuvashia, Oleg Nikolaev, wrote on Telegram that three people were injured in his region following a missile attack on the administrative center in the city of Cheboksary. Nikolaev did not specify the results of the attack but said in an initial statement that the number of victims and damaged infrastructure are being clarified.
According to Anadolu Agency, Samara Gov. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said three people were injured in his region, which was subjected to a massive drone attack by Ukraine. 'Air defense forces and mobile combat groups shot down several dozen drones. Unfortunately, damage was recorded at several industrial facilities as a result of the attack. Emergency services are working on the ground,' said Fedorishchev.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed the air defenses shot down 326 Ukrainian drones in 19 regions, the Black Sea, and Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces struck a military plant in Cheboksary using FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles and hit the Kuibyshev oil refinery in the Samara region. 'The distance from the frontline is more than 900 kilometers (599 miles),' Zelenskyy wrote on US social media platform X, claiming two oil infrastructure facilities in Russia's Vladimir region were also hit.
Vladimir Gov. Alexander Avdeyev confirmed that fires broke out at two infrastructure facilities in the region's administrative center following a drone attack, but noted there are no casualties. Separately, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, said a Ukrainian drone hit and caused a fire on the roof of a museum in the city.
In Ukraine, Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Synyehubov said seven people were injured following overnight Russian drone attacks on the region's administrative center. Synyehubov said attacks were recorded in four districts of Kharkiv city, noting that a fire occurred at a residential building in the Industrialnyi district following the attack.
In Odesa, two residential buildings were damaged as a result of "massive" Russian strikes, according to regional Gov. Oleh Kiper, who noted that three people were injured. Ukraine's Air Force claimed on Telegram that the air defenses shot down 181 out of 207 drones launched by Russia.