MOSCOW: A massive drone attack on Russia’s southern city of Volgograd killed one person and caused a fire in an industrial area, a local official said Thursday, as Ukraine claimed to have struck a nearby refinery.
The attack hit a 24-story apartment block, damaging balconies and shattering windows of nearby houses, Volgograd governor Andrey Bocharov said on Telegram,
“A 48-year-old civilian man was killed by shrapnel from the attack,” he said.
“Falling debris caused a fire in an industrial area in the Krasnoarmeysky district,” he said, adding that the blaze had since been extinguished.
Volgograd, more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the fighting in eastern Ukraine, is an industrial hub home to gas and petroleum refining plants.
Ukraine has stepped up its drone attacks deep behind the front lines, targeting Russia’s energy sector, but fatal strikes so far from the border are still relatively rare.
Unverified images circulating on social media showed a large fire at an oil refinery in the region and an apartment block with charred black marks on the outside and smashed glass strewn across a parking lot.
Ukraine said it had successfully hit the oil facility.
“Explosions and a fire were recorded in the target area,” the Ukrainian General Staff said on Telegram.
Kyiv’s security chief said recently that Ukraine had carried out nearly 160 successful strikes on Russian oil facilities so far this year.
Russia’s defense ministry said it had downed 75 Ukrainian drones, the majority over the Volgograd region.
Moscow, whose forces launched a full-scale offensive on Ukraine in 2022, has also escalated aerial attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities and its rail network, triggering warnings the country could face a winter of power blackouts and disruption to heating supplies.
Russia fired 135 drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday.
Eight people were wounded in the Dnipropetrovsk region when a drone hit a residential building, he said.
“The targets are our critical infrastructure — everything that supports ordinary civilian life,” Zelensky said, urging Western allies to slap more sanctions on Russia.
Ukraine drone attack kills one in Russia as Kyiv claims refinery hit
https://arab.news/c3s96
Ukraine drone attack kills one in Russia as Kyiv claims refinery hit
- Ukraine has stepped up its drone attacks deep behind the front lines, targeting Russia’s energy sector, but fatal strikes so far from the border are still relatively rare
South Korea calls for resuming dialogue with North
- President Lee Jae Myung has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North since taking office in June
- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul
SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on Sunday for dialogue with North Korea to resume, after Pyongyang last week shunned the prospect of diplomacy with its neighbor.
Since taking office in June, a dovish Lee has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North, which reaffirmed its anti-Seoul approach during a party meeting last week.
“As my administration has repeatedly made clear, we respect the North’s system and will neither engage in any type of hostile acts, nor pursue any form of unification by absorption,” Lee said in a speech marking the anniversary of a historical campaign against Japan’s colonial rule.
“We will also continue our efforts to resume dialogue with the North,” he said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, describing its overtures as “clumsy, deceptive farce and a poor work.”
Speaking at the party congress in Pyongyang, Kim said North Korea has “absolutely no business dealing with South Korea, its most hostile entity, and will permanently exclude South Korea from the category of compatriots.”
But he also said the North could “get along well” with the United States if Washington acknowledges its nuclear status.
Speculation has mounted over whether US President Donald Trump will seek a meeting with Kim during planned travels to China.
Last year, Trump said he was “100 percent” open to a meeting.
Previous Trump-Kim summits during the US president’s first term fell apart after the pair failed to agree over sanctions relief — and what nuclear concessions North Korea might make in return.
