At least seven people have been killed after a drone hit a bus in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region of Ukraine, as both sides escalate attacks.
The Russian-installed head of the region, Denis Pushilin, said on the Telegram messaging platform on Wednesday that the bus was travelling between Moscow and Simferopol in Crimea.
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“A further 11 people sustained injuries of varying severity, and all are receiving the necessary medical care,” he added.
Russia’s state news agency Tass reported that the Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation under the category of “terrorist attack”, according to its spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko.
Meanwhile, the governor of St Petersburg said Ukrainian drones hit infrastructure in several districts, causing damage and wounding several people, as Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts the “Russian Davos” economic forum in the city.
The strikes come a day after a barrage of Russian missiles and drones killed 23 people across Ukraine, as the fighting continues with no clear end in sight.
On Wednesday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that “important facilities on Russian territory were hit last night”.
“Among them was the Petersburg Oil Terminal. The distance from Ukraine’s state border to this facility of Russia’s oil industry, which serves the war, is about 1,100 kilometers. Purely military targets at the Kronstadt base were also hit,” Zelenskyy said.
“Another target was an enterprise in the Tambov region involved in the production of Russian weapons. The distance from the frontline is almost 600 kilometers.”
Over 350 drones intercepted
According to Leningrad Governor Alexander Drozdenko, on Wednesday morning, 50 drones had been shot down over the region overnight, and suspected attacks were continuing to be repelled.
Drones also hit the city of Michurinsk in the central Russian Tambov region, Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov said, adding that outbuildings at an industrial facility, an apartment building and a library were damaged.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence reported that overnight, 354 Ukrainian drones were “intercepted and destroyed” over multiple regions.
Reporting from St Petersburg, Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova said that 59 drones were shot down, hitting several districts and resulting in a fire breaking out at an oil terminal in the Kirovsky district in the western part of the city.
“This facility is one of the largest terminals in the region. Flight restrictions were imposed several times at Polkava airports nearby. Approximately 20 flights have been delayed,” Shapovalova said.
“Reportedly the attacks come from the Ukrainian side as revenge for several recent attacks on Kyiv, Dnipro and other Ukrainian cities.”
The attacks come a day after Ukraine’s air force reported that Moscow had launched
656 drones throughout the night and into Tuesday morning.
According to the air force, 54 drones and 33 missiles had passed through its multilayered air defence system. At least 23 people were killed in the attacks, according to local authorities.
Russia has said its barrage of attacks on Tuesday was in response to a deadly attack on a dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region two weeks ago.
<small>Source: Al Jazeera</small>
