Drone attack in Ukraine by Russia kills at least 8, injures many | News of the Russian-Ukrainian war

Russian officials say Ukraine’s crackdown on warehouses led to civilian casualties; Kyiv says the site is used for the production of drones and transport equipment.

A drone strike in western Russia in Ukraine has killed at least eight people and injured others, according to government officials, as Ukraine and Russia continue to clash.

Tambov Governor Evgeniy Pervyshov said on Saturday that an attack in Kotovsk hit a warehouse of Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer.

“Seven night workers were killed when enemy drones hit the Wildberries production facility,” Pervyshov wrote in the Telegraph.

Another 25 people were injured, including one person in critical condition and six in critical condition, with most of the injuries caused by the tar, he said.

According to the ambassador, 28 drones were seized. “If they had achieved their goal, the number of civilians killed would have been higher,” he added.

A separate drone attack in the city of Elektrostal in the western region of Moscow hit the Wildberries warehouse, killing one person and injuring 37 people, Governor Andrei Vorobyov said in the Telegraph. Most of the injured are in critical condition, he said.

Another drone attack ignited a fire at an oil depot in Noginsk, also in the Moscow region, injuring two people, he said.

According to reports from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Dmitry Medvedenko said the death toll and casualties on Saturday were “the highest” in the attack on Ukraine in Russia “in three years”.

In a televised statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the two Wildberries warehouses are “important facilities” used to “ensure the availability of materials authorized for the production of drones and transport equipment”. He also said that protests in central Ukraine hit the Azov Sea and the Black Sea.

These attacks come as Ukraine wants increase the campaign to destroy Russia’s power and weapons, in an attempt to weaken Moscow’s ability to continue fighting a war that is now in its fifth year.

Meanwhile, a “major” Russian attack on the port city of Odesa killed one person, injured three and caused property damage, according to Governor Oleh Kipper.

Russia also attacked a ship flying the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, he said.

The latest exchange comes at the end of a week of political turmoil in Ukraine, after Zelenzkyy on Wednesday suddenly. removed Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov six months after taking the job.

The 35-year-old led the rapid expansion of the Ukrainian aviation industry. Fedorov advocated AI-controlled drones that could detect targets without storing messages that Russia could intercept, and expanded the use of ground robots to deliver weapons and ammunition and evacuate wounded soldiers.

His removal sparked protests in Kyiv and other cities on Thursday and Friday.