KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – A village in western Russia’s border region was evacuated Sunday following a series of explosions after debris from a downed Ukrainian drone set fire to a nearby warehouse, local officials said.
Social media footage appeared to show rising clouds of black smoke in the Voronezh region while loud explosions could be heard in succession.
Gov. Aleksandr Gusev said that falling wreckage triggered the “detonation of explosive objects.” No casualties were reported, but residents of a nearby village in the Podgorensky district were evacuated, he said. Roads were also closed with emergency services, military and government officials working at the scene.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense did not address the strike in their morning briefing, but said that air defense systems had destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Belgorod region.
Russian Strikes Leave Thousands in Ukraine Without Power and Waterhttps://t.co/Fta9rDYsJy
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 6, 2024
Authorities in Russia’s Krasnodar province on Saturday said a fire at an oil depot had also been caused by falling drone debris. Russia’s emergency services said the blaze was extinguished Sunday morning.
The strikes come after a Ukrainian military spokesperson told The Associated Press Thursday that Kyiv’s troops had retreated from a neighborhood on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a strategically important town in Ukraine´s Donetsk region that has been reduced to rubble under a monthlong Russian assault.
