Russian Drone Strikes Hit Kyiv Petrol Stations, Killing Two; Ukraine Hits Targets in Russia
Russian drone attacks on Kyiv petrol stations killed two and injured eight, while Ukrainian strikes killed two in Russia's Tula region and hit an Ozon logistics hub in Saratov.
Overnight fighting between Russia and Ukraine killed two people in each country, with Russian jet-powered drones striking petrol stations in Kyiv and Ukrainian drones hitting targets deep inside Russia, officials said on Friday.
In the Ukrainian capital, two people died and eight others were injured when drones attacked two petrol stations early on Friday, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. A rescue worker was among the injured in what emergency services described as a double-tap strike on one of the sites. The attacks followed an overnight strike on a residential block in Kyiv that injured eight more people.
The strikes marked a resumption of near-constant Russian drone waves against Kyiv and its suburbs this week, after a brief lull during a visit by U.S. peace negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The two envoys, who also met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow at the weekend, said there was new momentum in peace efforts, but both sides have continued fighting as another winter approaches.
"There is no military objective behind such strikes. This is terror of the civilian population," said Bohdan Kukura, CEO of Ukrainian oil company Ukrnafta.
A woman was also killed in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital, the regional governor said.
On the Russian side, Dmitry Milyayev, governor of the Tula region, said two people were killed and three injured in Ukrainian drone attacks overnight. Russian e-commerce company Ozon said a drone attack caused a fire at its logistics hub in the central Volga River city of Saratov. Regional governor Roman Busargin said Ukrainian drones also damaged civilian infrastructure there, with no casualties reported.
More than two dozen warehouses owned by Ozon and fellow online retailer Wildberries have been hit in recent attacks, which Kyiv describes as part of a campaign against economic infrastructure underpinning Russia's war effort. The Saratov region hosts a large oil refinery run by state oil company Rosneft and other industrial and military facilities.
In Volgograd, south of Saratov on the Volga River, local authorities said two people were injured in a missile attack that hit two residential buildings and damaged an industrial facility. The Volgograd oil refinery run by energy company Lukoil is located on the city's outskirts. The governor of the Perm region in the Ural Mountains said two industrial facilities had been attacked by drones.
Both Moscow and Kyiv deny deliberately targeting civilians in the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 and has now lasted more than four and a half years. In recent weeks, the two sides have traded escalating strikes on logistics and other economic targets aimed at damaging each other's war effort.