A major fire broke out at an electronics factory during a Ukrainian attack on the western Russian city of Oryol overnight in the early hours of Saturday.
Independent Russian news agency Astra reported the blaze was at the Proton-Electrotex plant, which it said manufactured componenets for industrial and specialised equipment.
It was the second time the factory has been hit following a previous strike on 23 October. In the latest attack, a Neptune coastal missile was used by the Ukrainian Navy to hit the site, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Also on Saturday, Russian forces struck energy facilities outside Kyiv — including systems sending power from two nuclear plants to the city and Ukraine’s central regions — causing serious damage, Ukraine’s energy ministry said.
Moscow’s defence ministry said it struck what it described as targets in Ukraine’s military-industrial sector.
The exchange comes three days before Russia and Ukraine are due to take part in US-brokered talks
At least two dead in Friday night’s attack on Ukraine
At least two people were killed and around a dozen others wounded across Ukraine in the overnight attacks, which also damaged homes, businesses and non-residential buildings, authorities said.
Moscow’s defence ministry said it carried out a massive strike on what it described as targets in Ukraine’s military-industrial sector, as well as energy and transport infrastructure in and around Kyiv.
Russia has stepped up air attacks on Ukraine as its ground offensive has largely stalled, pounding energy infrastructure in major cities with difficult-to-intercept missiles and drones.
It has expanded its campaign in recent weeks to target Kyiv’s bridges, snarling traffic in the city of more than 3 million people.
Kyiv facing ‘serious difficulties’ with electricity and water supplies
Russian forceshammered energy infrastructure around Ukraine’s capital with missiles and drones on Friday night, straining Kyiv’s power supply and heating systems as temperatures headed towards zero, officials said on Saturday.
Explosions rocked the city as Russia fired multiple waves of ballistic missiles, several of which hit and damaged the Northern Bridge across the Dnipro River, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Strikes on energy facilities outside Kyiv — including systems sending power from two nuclear plants to the city and Ukraine’s central regions — caused serious damage, the energy ministry said.
“The capital is facing serious difficulties with its electricity, water, and heat supplies,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X, adding that substations in five other regions were also hit.
He said Russia had launched 36 ballistic missiles, only four of which were intercepted, according to Ukraine’s air force. It added that air defences had downed 149 out of 172 drones.
Erdogan tells Trump Turkey will continue efforts for peace
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told US President Donald Trump by phone that Ankara would continue its peace efforts and that tensions between Iran and the United States should be resolved through diplomacy, Erdogan’s office said on Saturday.
Erdogan told Mr Trump that Turkey would also continue to contribute to efforts to end the war in Ukraine and that contacts with both Kyiv and Moscow should be intensified, according to a readout from his office.
Russia to send senior diplomats, military officials to upcoming peace talks in Abu Dhabi.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who oversees Russia’s relations with the United States and arms control issues, will join the negotiations for the first time.
