Russia reports drone attacks on Moscow and eight regions, hits thermal power plant in Belgorod
Russia reports drone attacks on Moscow and at least eight other regions, with Belgorod claiming that a thermal power plant has been hit.
This was reported by the Russian service of the BBC, according to Ukrinform.
The mayor of the Russian capital, Sergei Sobianin, reported on his social media accounts this morning that 20 drones had been shot down overnight as they approached Moscow. He added that emergency services specialists were working at the crash site. He did not report any damage or casualties.
Due to the drone attack, flights at Moscow's Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports were suspended twice during the night. The restrictions have now been lifted.
The head of the Rostov region, Yuri Slyusar, also wrote about a massive drone attack on the region and the regional center. According to him, there were no casualties, but two cars caught fire in Rostov-on-Don, and the roofs of several houses in Rostov and the region were damaged.
In addition, due to damage to power lines in the Kamensk district, the water intake and pumping station have been shut down, Slyusar said. One of the likely targets could have been a branch of the Novoshakhtinsk oil products plant in the Rostov region, according to an analysis by the ASTRA Telegram channel.
In Belgorod, there were reports of an alleged missile attack.
“The enemy launched a missile strike on Belgorod. Preliminary reports indicate that no one was injured. The shelling caused serious damage to engineering infrastructure,” said Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, on Telegram.
The Telegram channel “Pepel” reported that a large column of smoke rose after an explosion in the area of the Luch thermal power plant and that electricity was cut off in some areas of Belgorod after the strike. OSINT analysis by ASTRA also confirms the attack on the Luch thermal power plant.
The Luch Thermal Power Plant is a gas turbine thermal power plant, one of the main power and heating plants in Belgorod. Its main fuel is gas. It provides electricity and heat to part of the Kharkovskaya Gora microdistrict and other areas of Belgorod.
In total, the Russian Ministry of Defense reports that between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., 130 UAVs were “intercepted and destroyed”: according to the Russian military, 25 UAVs were shot down over the Bryansk region and the Moscow region, including 15 that were “flying towards Moscow,” eight drones were shot down over the Belgorod, Rostov, and Kaluga regions, six over the Tula region, four over Kalmykia, three over the Kursk and Oryol regions, and one over the Ryazan region and the Caspian Sea. According to the statement, most of the drones were shot down over the Astrakhan region – 38.
As reported by Ukrinform, air defense forces destroyed 133 of the 153 drones used by Russian invaders to attack Ukraine since Sunday evening.